The Storm Respun
by Sweet Sassy Sarah
Summary: Rewrite of Spun on a Storm. Talia is a slave, bought by the Circle and set free. What will she do when she realizes she has magic and is falling for her teacher. BriarxOC First in the Circle Unfolds series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's my edit of my very first story, Spun on a Storm. I've changed some things and added some things, so I hope you like it. THanks to **Kate of Carlay** who was the original beta for the end of the story, and to **KrisEleven**, who's done all my editing. I couldn't live without you guys :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 1**

Talia frowned at the lock on the slave pens. She knew how to open it, if she could just reach it. Any time she tried she felt as if she were choking, like someone was strangling her, so she moved back, eyeing the lock warily.

"But death would probably be better than the slave pens," she muttered to herself.

"All of you, out," a guard called suddenly. Grudgingly the slaves in Talia's pen, Talia included, filed out of the pen and up onto a raised platform in front of a crowd.

Talia shook her pale blonde hair out of dark blue eyes, glaring at the assembled crowd. She knew the kind of picture she presented, a pretty girl who would make some man a good bedwarmer, but she also had faith in her ability to keep her from going to that kind of place. She'd been good at fending off anyone who might seek to attack her, a skill she learned from growing up on the streets of Summersea.

The slave masters brought the slaves from Talia's pen forward one by one. She was, as usual, last. "Pretty girl," the master called out, bored by the process. "Just look at her. Chaps, wouldn't you like to have this bit waiting for you in your bed at night?"

"We'll take her," a female voice came from the crowd. Talia tried to see who it was, but all she saw were people. There was no way to distinguish this regal sounding voice from any of the others.

"Lady Sandrilene," the slave master said, straightening up. "Surely you're joking."

"I don't joke, Master Jorn, and you know it," the female voice said again.

"What, may I ask, do you need a girl like this for, my lady?"

"It is not your right to inquire as to what I plan to do with my slave," Lady Sandrilene said. Talia still couldn't see her. "Release her to me."

Master Jorn pulled Talia by the arm down off the platform, where he thrust her into the arms of a tall young man. "Here. Take her. We're glad to be rid of her," he spat, and took the pouch of money that a small noblewoman was holding out. "She was nothing but trouble anyway."

Talia looked down at the smaller woman with a glare. The other woman raised a light brown brow and said nothing.

Another, taller, woman was standing near the noble. She was dark-skinned, and carried a Trader staff. Talia looked it up and down, and then saw the hand that held the staff. It looked like a metal casing, but not comfortable at all. With a hard swallow, she looked away.

"Where's Tris?" the man holding her asked, his deep voice smooth.

"Probably up on the wall again," the black skinned woman said. "She escaped the crowd as soon as she could."

"We'll collect her on the way," the noble said, and turned to set off toward the town.

The man holding Talia shifted so he was only holding one of her arms and walking next to her. Talia looked up and tried not to gape; he wasn't anyone she'd suspect of consorting with nobles and Traders. He was very handsome, this stranger. Tall, with black hair cut short and green eyes. Those eyes, and his mouth, were lit with a kind of amusement.

A few blocks away, a redheaded woman caught up to them and glanced sharply at Talia with grey eyes that reminded her a bit of a storm. No one said anything, just kept walking. Every once in a while, one of the four would smile, except for the redhead with the strange braids in her hair. Although Talia thought she saw the small woman's lips turn up the corners once.

They tried to speak to her, but Talia wouldn't answer, and they finally gave up.

They arrived at a three story house a few minutes later. "I must get back to Uncle," the noble said. "But I'll be by tomorrow to get her measurements. Until then, Tris, don't murder her, and Briar, don't bed her. Daja, good luck." She nodded politely at Talia and walked toward the back of the house.

Talia looked at the noble's companions, wondering what their reactions were to the proclamations of the noble. The dark girl had a look of amusement on her face, the redhead looked impassive, and the man looked…insulted? Why would he be insulted?

"Well now," the black skinned girl said. "Come inside," she told Talia and went into the house.

Talia followed the woman inside to the kitchen, leaving the redhead and the man talking. "We needed a kitchen maid, and a helper, for small things," the woman explained. "I'm Daja Kisubo. The other three are my sisters and brother: Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, Trisana Chandler, and Briar Moss. We're mages, all of us."

Talia looked down at her hands, folded meekly in front of her, though she felt anything but meek. She didn't want them to get the impression that she'd be one of those slaves who needed inducements to do her work. If she could do that, escape would be a whole lot easier. But they were mages? All of them?

"There's nothing to be afraid of…what's your name?"

"Talia, Mistress." She figured blandness was better than anger, especially as she was getting to know them. Later…well, she'd see about later.

Daja grinned, and started through the house, urging Talia to follow her. "It's Daja. Talia, there's nothing to be frightened of. We're really not all that scary."

"You and I aren't, Daj, and Sandry only has her moments, but Tris is definitely scary," an amused male voice came from the doorway.

Daja smiled. "You and I have our moments, too, Briar," she said softly, and he laughed.

"Are you going to show her the gardens or the forge first?" was the next thing that came out of Briar Moss's mouth.

"I was about to show her the forge."

"Can you read?" Briar asked Talia.

She nodded, suddenly stung. Just because she was a slave didn't mean she couldn't read. "Since I was very young," she said, somewhat angrily. Though, thinking back on it, she realized that, with the way she looked, he was right to have assumed that she was illiterate. She was still wearing the clothes she'd had on for the last five months, since she'd come into the pens. Once a fine servant's gown, the gray mess on her painfully thin body could hardly be called anything but rags. They barely covered her, leaving her legs mostly bare and her chest nearly hanging from the top.

Briar held up his hands. "Apologies. I couldn't read until I was somewhere around ten." He shrugged. "Anyway, these are the kitchens. I assume you know how to follow directions?" He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to comment.

Talia bit her lip and nodded again, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to her. He nodded brusquely. "Good. You'll be fine in here."

Daja rolled her eyes. "My forge is over there," she said to Talia, nodding toward a door on the other side of the kitchen. "I'm a smithmage. There shouldn't be a need for you to go in there." She pointed back at the metal box she'd set on the table when she first came in. "That's my mage kit. I'll know if you go in there, so don't."

"Same goes," Briar said, gesturing to the bag he held. It looked to be made of hemp or straw or the like. "Tris's mage kit you won't have to worry about. It's her hair." He smiled at the look on Talia's face. "Now, my garden." He opened a door that led into a beautiful garden filled with any kind of plant Talia could imagine, and more.

"You probably won't need to go out there, unless I need something and can't get it myself."

Talia nodded and then stuck a finger under her slave collar, unable to keep from scratching a horrible itch.

Daja and Briar shared a smile. "Come here," Daja said. Talia sat where she was told. Daja laid a hand on her collar, and Talia felt it loosen and then melt off of her. "The magic's gone, too," Daja said.

"You're not afraid I'll run away?" Curious. Her old mistress had been so afraid of the slaves that they slept in a shack in the yard of the house with two guards and a mage making sure they couldn't escape. Or revolt.

"We'd be able to find you," Daja said, a small smile lighting her face.

"You're not a slave anymore," Briar said, gently. "Well, I'm off. I've got to tend the _shakkans_. Miniature trees," he told a mystified Talia.

He left the room and suddenly Talia could breathe again. She let out a breath and didn't notice the grin on Daja's face. "What kind of mage is he?" she asked, still looking out the door he'd just gone through.

"Plant."

"And the others?"

"Tris is a weather witch, and Sandry has magic with thread. A 'stitch witch,' if you like."

"Why did you buy me?" Talia asked, turning back to Daja finally.

"I told you, we needed a helper," Daja said with a grin.

"Come with me, Talia," she said, crooking her hand at the girl. She left the room, leaving Talia to follow her, wondering again why the woman thought she was safe with Talia at her back. Talia looked around for a second, and, when she was sure no one was watching, palmed a knife to put under her clothes.

"You won't need that," Daja said from up ahead. Talia looked up, stunned. How did she know? Daja came back to the kitchen doorway, and watched Talia place the knife carefully on the counter. "We're not going to do anything requiring a late night stabbing, I don't think," she said, the smile on her face an attempt at reassurance, Talia thought.

She made Talia go through the hallway first, this time, directing her toward the servant's quarters. She picked up a dress from the bed and handed it to Talia before turning to the wardrobe. She pulled out undergarments and handed them to the other girl as well. "Come on."

"What now?" Talia asked, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Daja.

"A bath. You probably haven't bathed in a long time."

"So? What does it matter?" The thought of a bath practically got Talia stripping right there. She hadn't been clean in so long, and she ached for the forgotten feel of her skin when it wasn't caked with dirt and blood and everything else, and the feel of her hair flowing free and silky down her back.

Daja grinned. "The only thing I'm worried about is the stench. Which is why we're going to take care of that whether you like it or not."

Talia didn't move. Daja waited, and when it was clear that the slave girl didn't intend on going anywhere, sighed. "I don't want to have to force you, but I will if I have to. You're not getting into those clothes until you're clean."

"And if I said I'd rather stay in these clothes?"

"I'd laugh and tell you to get in the bath anyway. That can't be comfortable. I'm not asking you to slit your own throat. It's a bath. After that, you can go back to being angry at everyone and glaring at them, I promise."

Talia blinked at her, and then gave in with a scowl. "Fine." She didn't know why she fought; it was the principle of the thing.

xXx

Daja left the bath, telling Talia to let her know when she was finished. The water, which had been clear and steaming hot when Talia got in, was murky and ice cold when she got out.

But the girl was clean. Daja let her dress in peace and then came to collect her bearing a brush and a couple of ribbons for her hair. "I hate dresses," Talia commented, straightening her skirts.

"When Sandry comes back tomorrow to measure you, you can tell her that. I'm sure she'll be delighted to make breeches and shirts for you," Daja replied, handing over the hair things.

Talia looked confused. "Wait. If Lady Sandrilene is a noble, why is she coming to measure me and make me clothes?"

"Stitch witch, remember?" Daja reminded her.

"I'm a servant," Talia said.

"Sandry likes everyone who works for us to have clothes made just for them by her own hand with her own cloth," Daja told her.

Talia's lips twitched in an almost smile at the oddness of that. She took the brush and ribbons and followed Daja back inside the house. They sat in the kitchen again, and Daja watched Talia brush her hair for a second before leaving the room.

When she came back, Briar was on her heels, carrying a jar of some sort. He sat down on the table in front of Talia and opened the jar. Talia watched, unsure of what he was doing, and let the brush and the hand holding it drop to her lap.

With nary a smile in sight, Briar used his fingers to scoop out some cream from the jar, and then set the clay container on the table next to him. He used a finger on his other hand to get just a little of the cream and dab it on her face.

His gray-green eyes looked almost through her, and his fingers were steady and sure as he applied the cream to her cheek and neck over the cuts she'd gotten from her fighting in the slave pens. "Hold out your arms," he told her, and put the ointment or whatever it was on the few bruises she had on her arms and hands.

He was scowling as he tilted her head up to apply the healing ointment to the scar at the base of her neck, but his fingers were gentle, even tender, on her slender neck. He glanced up once during his ministrations, and his eyes caught her dark blue ones. Talia raised a brow in question, and Briar raised one back, a slow smile forming on his face.

He finished rubbing the cream in and handed her the jar. "You only have to put this on any bruises, cuts, scrapes, and the scar from the collar once," he told her, jumping off the table. "It's not instantaneous, but it'll fade because of the cream within a few hours. I put a slow healing into it, otherwise it'd work a lot quicker." He stalked out of the room after giving a quick wink, and shut the door to the gardens behind him.

Talia picked up her brush again, but this time her hand was shaking. Daja saw, and sighed thoughtfully. "We'd warn you away from him if we thought it would work," the redhead, Tris, said softly from the doorway, and Talia turned her head to look at the older girl.

"What do you mean?" Talia asked.

"Just what I said. If I thought for a second that it was possible for you to stay away from Briar if I asked it of you, I'd get on my knees and beg." Then she smiled. "As that's not possible, I think I'll stay on my feet."

"Who said I wouldn't stay away from him?"

Daja grinned, and Tris smirked a little. "The question isn't will you be able to stay away from him, it's when you'll give up trying."

**A/N: Please Review! Sneak peeks if you do, as always!! :D Love to all, Sarah**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys are amazing. Thanks to **Kate of Carlay** for all the moral support, and specialer thanks to **KrisEleven** for all the amazing beta work put into this story :D. Love you guys! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 2**

Talia learned that they had a cook and a kitchen maid already, but the maid only came around during the day, and the cook lived in the servant's quarters with her husband. Talia would be the one cleaning the house most of the time. In the kitchen, she was to follow Kendre's orders.

When the cook came to the kitchen later that day to fix lunch, she eyed Talia speculatively. "Who're you?"

"Talia, ma'am. I work here."

"You're a slave," the cook said, seeing the scar around the base of Talia's neck.

Talia nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Kendre, please." Kendre smiled and started her cooking.

Talia helped the woman when she needed it, and helped serve the three mages who lived in the house. She was quiet and efficient, Daja and Tris noted, and also saw that Briar could hardly keep his eyes off her whenever she was in the room. Whenever she was out of it, he was looking at the door to the kitchen, waiting for her to come out of the kitchen.

After lunch, Briar went to his workshop, Tris went upstairs to her room, and Daja went into her forge, leaving Talia in the kitchen with Kendre and the other maid, Lorine. Kendre set her to washing and drying dishes while Lorine was cleaning the table and the kitchen.

When Talia was done, she turned around and saw that the kitchen was spotless, and she didn't have anything left to do there. She took up a cloth and went around the rooms, first downstairs, then upstairs, dusting everything.

She took a break for the mages' dinner and her own, and then finished the top floor, except for Tris's room. It was scary in there, and she was afraid to touch something that would get her into trouble with the frightening mage woman. She couldn't help looking in though, and standing near the pretty glass things that were all over the place.

Pretty things attracted her. They always had. It was difficult to stay away from them, and on the streets, she'd hardly had to. She was talented at slipping a hand into someone's pockets and making off with their belongings. Her looks helped, when she could keep herself clean, though it wasn't often that she had enough coin for a bath.

After she'd been captured, she had regular meals and baths, but her looks weren't so welcome there, and she'd known it. Those two years had been hell.

xXx

Talia woke up early the next morning, as she always had. She smiled at the view out her tiny window and then went about her early morning duties.

She went into the kitchen for her own breakfast and heard a song coming from the direction of Briar's room. She pressed her ear against his door and wondered who he was singing to.

"Probably his plants," a voice said, and Talia turned around. It was the redhead, Tris.

Talia dropped into a curtsy. "Beg your pardon, my lady. I was just on my way to my breakfast."

"It's a rare morning when Briar doesn't sing to his plants," Tris said, eyes sharp on Talia's face. "Your breakfast is probably getting cold."

The redheaded mage watched the new maid walk quickly to the kitchen. _Briar,_ Tris called into his mind. _The maid had her ear pressed against your door listening to you singing. Is there a girl in there, or is it your plants?_

Briar opened the door smiling. "My plants. I didn't have a girl in here last night. Haven't for a couple of weeks; you know that. And I don't usually sing to them."

Tris raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh. "That's true. Briar, I know what you saw, and I know how you feel, but please, don't rush into things with her."

"With who?" he asked innocently.

"The new maid. Talia. Be careful with her. She looks fragile."

"As much as you do, Coppercurls," Briar agreed, and Tris had to smile, even though she rolled her eyes.

"Hush. But listen to me." She looked into his eyes and he finally nodded grudgingly.

"I'll do my best," he promised, and retreated to his room.

_The new maid has a bit of a crush on Briar_, Tris called to Daja, still half-asleep, and Sandry, on her way to the house with her sewing kit in tow.

_Says who?_ Briar said, amusement ripe in his tone.

_Why wouldn't she? Briar's not ugly,_ Sandry intoned.

_Has she seen the tattoos yet?_ Daja asked.

Briar laughed. _Probably not._

_But other girls have and they weren't repulsed,_ Sandry said reasonably. _Obviously._

The girls felt Briar's good humor recede, and laughed. He hadn't minded talking about the girls he brought back to his room before, but lately he was getting touchy about it. They cut off their communication and Tris continued on her way to the kitchen. Talia and Kendre turned when Tris entered the room.

"Good morning, Tris," Kendre said with a smile.

"Good morning, Kendre," Tris replied.

"Oatmeal for you as usual?" Kendre asked, setting a bowl on the table near the fire.

"Please. I'll get it myself. You go on with what you're doing."

Kendre shrugged and went back to chopping the vegetables that would go into the soup for lunch. Tris got her bowl of oatmeal and sat down on one of the benches that flanked the table. She watched Talia go about her chores, helping Kendre when the other woman needed it.

"You're done in here, Talia," Kendre said when she set aside all of the vegetables for later. "Go do your other chores."

Talia curtsied quickly and left the room, knowing that Tris's eyes had been on her the whole time. "She's a bit antsy," Kendre mentioned. "Like she's uncomfortable around people."

"I noticed," Tris remarked, smiling. "That could just be because I'm in here."

"She was the same last night, and then it was only me and Lorine."

Tris raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She finished her oatmeal and left the bowl on the counter. "Thank you, Kendre."

"Of course, Tris."

Tris went out the front door of the house and stood in the street. She let the wind touch her face and took off her special glasses that helped protect her from unwanted visions. She was immediately bombarded with visions on the wind.

One that she held onto was of a young woman coming down the street mounted sidesaddle on a pretty horse. Her two guards were on either side of her, and they were joking and laughing with her.

Tris smiled. _Sandry's here,_ she called to Daja and Briar.

_Who does she want?_ Daja asked.

_Talia, I assume._

_You assume correctly,_ Sandry said through their minds, and all three of them heard it. _She doesn't have clothes made by me yet._

_I'll get her for you, Sandry,_ Briar said. _Where do you want her?_

_The room you saved for me is fine,_ Sandry said, and then was gone.

Tris waited for her friend to arrive at the house, and then walked inside with her. "Did you tell the truth about the maid and Briar, or was that just to tease?" Sandry asked, looking curious. "Because I don't think you should tease about something like that. Especially not in this situation. Not with the way he feels about her."

"It was the truth," Tris said, holding up a hand in a swear.

Sandry smiled happily. "Good."

**A/N: Sneak peeks for reviewers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A short chapter. Very short. My bad. Please review! Thanks to **Kate of Carlay** for all the moral support and **KrisEleven** for being a fantasmic beta! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 3**

Talia was cleaning the room next to Tris's on the third floor when she heard a voice behind her. "Sandry's here to see you," the voice said, and she whirled around with a gasp. _Not again, _she thought.

Briar was leaning in the doorway with his hands crossed over his chest and a smile on his face as he looked at her.

Talia stared at him for a second, then regained her breath after sighing with relief. "Does she need my help for something?" she asked, tucking the rag she was using to dust into one of her apron pockets.

She started to walk past him, but he was blocking the doorway. There was about an inch of air separating their bodies, and Talia looked up into Briar's gray-green eyes and watched them turn darker green as his smile grew.

"Talia!" The maid could tell that Lady Sandry was calling her; the voice obviously belonged to a noble. "Come down here, please!"

Talia took a last long look at Briar. "Lady Sandrilene's calling me," she said, but didn't make a move to walk past him.

Briar raised a brow. "You should probably go down, then," he said, and moved out of the way.

Talia went into the hall and down the stairs to where Lady Sandry was setting her mage kit on a table. "Oh, good, you're here," Sandry said, smiling at Talia.

"Pardon my tardiness, my lady," Talia said, dropping into a curtsy. "I was upstairs dusting and I…" She trailed off when Sandry waved a hand at her.

"No matter. You're here now. I'm going to take your measurements now."

"Measurements?" Talia asked, forgetting her conversation with Daja the day before. "For what?"

"New clothes, of course. I can't have you walking around in the same dress day after day, now can I?" Sandry pulled out measuring tape and started taking Talia's measurements, writing each one down when she'd gotten it.

Talia looked down at herself, wondering what was wrong with her dress. It was a simple maid's dress, bluish-gray with a gray apron with deep pockets. "I hate dresses, my lady," she said. Stupid dresses had gotten her put in the slave pens after all, so why would she want to wear them now when she had other choices?

Sandry glanced up and tried to hold in a smile. "Fine. We'll do it your way. Breeches and shirts it is. Anyway, I'd rather you had clothes made by me to wear, instead of the ones you have."

"You don't have to make me anything, my lady," Talia protested.

"Hush. It's what I do." Sandry stood and brushed out her skirts. Talia watched as the wrinkles put there by the lady kneeling on the floor shook themselves out, making the rich fabric smooth once again.

"I'll have your clothes ready in the next couple of days, I hope," Sandry said, putting all of her materials back into her mage kit. "Thank you for your time." She smiled at Talia, who just stood in her place, blinking at the mage, thoroughly confused by the older girl's pleasantness.

"I…um…thank you?" Talia curtsied and left the room, going back upstairs to finish her dusting.

Sandry grinned and went down to Daja's forge. "Good morning, Daj'," she said, closing the door behind her.

Daja turned from the hot furnace and smiled. "Morning."

"Interesting maid," Sandry remarked.

"What happened now?"

"She thinks I shouldn't make her anything."

"It's not unusual. Most people would agree with that," Daja replied, going back to her furnace. She pulled out a piece of steel and started drawing it into wire.

"That's true, I guess. I'm worried about her with Briar."

"We're always worried about girls with Briar," Daja said, concentrating on making the wire the proper thickness. "But, after what Tris saw, and after what we know Briar feels, there's really nothing we can do. And you know he'll be good to her."

"Him being good to her isn't the issue," Sandry said, pouting a bit. "Her being good to him is what's bothering me."

Daja nodded but didn't say anything. She finished drawing the wire and then set it aside. "He's Briar. He'll do what he wants," she told her friend, who shrugged. "As for the girl, she'd better treat him well," she muttered, and pulled another strip of metal from the fire.

Sandry, knowing Daja was barely paying attention anymore, sighed and left the forge, closing the door into the kitchen behind her. She saw Kendre, the cook, instructing Talia on how to make something or other at the fire. She watched for a minute, and then went to leave.

Tris was coming down the stairs just as Sandry was leaving. "Sandry, are you okay?" she asked, standing just inside the house so the wind wouldn't hit her face.

"Fine, Tris. I'm just going back to Duke's Citadel. My uncle had a few meetings he wanted me to attend today." Sandry's uncle was Duke Vedris, ruler of Emelan, where they lived.

Tris didn't reply, just watched Sandry as the girl left the house. She went back inside and back up to her room on the top floor. _Sandry, what's wrong?_ she asked.

_Nothing, Tris. Just something odd about Talia, that's all._

_She was in the pens for a while,_ Tris replied. _Long enough to make her more than a little odd. Why does it matter?_

Sandry sighed through their minds. _I don't know. You're right, I suppose, but there's just something…off._

_I'll look into it, _Tris promised, though it was clear she thought Sandry was over thinking everything.

**A/N: Sneak peeks for reviewers. So please review! Love to all! :D --Sarah**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it took me a couple of days to get this up, I just had an AP exam this morning, so I'm stress free for the afternoon and the weekend, hopefully. :D I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit different than the original. :D Many thanks to Kate of Carlay and KrisEleven for all the splendid work they do! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 4**

Briar was in his workroom putting the finishing touches on a medicine he was strengthening when he realized he'd forgotten a key ingredient. He'd get it himself, but he couldn't stop stirring the liquid, or else it'd turn into a toxic ointment instead of a helpful one.

_Daj'? Tris?_ he called.

_What do you want, Briar?_ Daja was the first to reply. A quick look told him that Tris wouldn't answer for a while. She was too busy scrying the wind in her tower room.

_Can you do me a favor? I need an herb out of the garden._ He sent a picture of it to her in his mind.

_I'm a little busy at the moment,_ Daja replied. She was still in her forge.

_Ask Talia to do it, then,_ Briar said impatiently.

Daja rolled her eyes and called out to the maid. "Talia?"

Talia stuck her head into the hot forge a few seconds later. "Can I help you with something?"

"Briar needs something from his garden."

_Tell her it's the big plant to the left of the door into my room,_ Briar said, half of his mind focused on the task he was still completing. _I only need about three or four leaves._

Daja related this information to Talia, who looked nervous. "It's okay," Daja said. "Just go and get it done. He's in his workshop."

Talia nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. She quickly wiped damp palms on her apron and went out into the garden. She stayed on the path and walked until she found the plant Daja had described. She went into the plants to get to it, and then went back along the path to the little workshop, curling her hand lightly around the leaves. As she got closer to Briar's workshop, she felt happier, as if every step made a difference in her mood.

She got close to the workshop, and knocked, but nothing happened. She knocked again, but there was no response.

"Um, Master Briar?" she finally called.

"I told you to call me Briar," he called back. "Come in."

Talia stretched out her hand to the latch, and saw that something strange had happened. The leaves had wrapped around her hand and fused together, like they were holding onto her. "Briar?!" Her voice was louder this time, and obviously nervous. "Briar!"

Hearing the desperation in her voice, Briar went to the door, the medicine forgotten. When he stepped outside, his mouth dropped open. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Talia exclaimed, holding out her hand. "I just looked down and it was like that! I swear I didn't do anything."

Briar carefully grabbed her hand to examine it. "Briar, is everything all right?" Daja asked, coming outside. She'd heard Talia's raised voice and had come to investigate. "Oh, wow. What happened?"

"I didn't do anything!" Talia said again, voice growing more fearful as time went on, though it clashed with the feeling of happiness she still felt buried deep inside. She remembered a plant like this, back when she was a slave. It grew in front of the window where her bed was. Every time she saw it, it seemed to have grown, and it shaded her in the hot summer months, and kept her warm in the winter ones. It had been her only source of comfort in a time when life had seemed so bleak.

"We know you didn't, Talia," Briar said offhand, and brought her hand up to examine it.

"What happened?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"Be quiet a minute," another voice said. "He's trying to concentrate."

Talia turned her head and saw Tris, the redhead, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "On what?"

"Your magic," came the simple answer.

Talia stared at the woman. "My what?"

"Magic," Tris repeated, rolling her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Talia demanded. "I don't have magic! I'd know it if I did."

"Not necessarily," Briar murmured, glancing up from her hand. "We didn't know until we were all around ten years old." He looked back down at her hand and turned it over, examining the fusion of the leaves tight around her palm.

"Well?" Talia asked. "What's going on?"

"It's fairly obvious," Tris said, sighing. She ignored the glare from Talia. "You've got plant magic, like Briar does."

"And somehow there was enough magic just floating around you that the leaves stayed alive, as if they were still on the plant," Briar added. "Plants are notorious for attempting to attach themselves to anyone with plant magic."

"Can't you get them off?"

"Not without hurting you."

Talia's eyes grew wide. "Hurting me? What are you talking about?"

"Because you have plant magic, you feel the plants' pain. If I was to just rip them off, you'd probably feel like I was ripping your skin off."

"I can't walk around with leaves wrapped around my hand," Talia insisted.

"Which is why it helps if Briar can concentrate," Tris said.

Talia contented herself to glared at the ground, feeling uncomfortable speaking her mind with the frightening redhead. She glanced down to see what Briar was doing to her hand. She shifted her weight to her other foot and tapped her fingers on her leg, waiting for him to finish. This was really taking a lot of time, and she still had her chores to finish. The happiness from earlier was back, so she was back to thinking about other things she still had to do instead of worrying about the plants that were suddenly acting like she was their stem.

"I apologize if I'm boring you," Briar said wryly, looking up. "Come on." He pulled her into the kitchen and sat her down. "Stay there a few minutes, all right?" he said before going back into his garden.

"Where's he going?" Talia asked, looking at the other women, who'd followed Briar and Talia inside.

"Calling his teacher," Tris said instantly. It was like she'd already known. Daja was nodding in agreement. But how was that possible?

Briar came back in a second later and sat down on top of the table, pulling Talia's hand back into his lap. "This is a really odd way for your power to manifest itself," he murmured, turning her hand over to examine her palm.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for instance, the first time I really believed anyone that I had magic, a whole bunch of plants tried to attack me. At least, that's how I saw it. I was only ten, we think."

"You talk like they're people," Talia said.

Briar smiled. "They mostly are, to me."

"Okay Briar, what's going on that you couldn't just tell me yourself tomorrow?" a female voice drifted through the house.

"In here, Rosethorn," Daja called out.

An older woman with short blonde hair came into the room. "You called me from the market for a girl?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She's got plant magic," Briar began.

"Boy, if I didn't know that I'd have to be dead. It's just floating all around her. What's the problem?"

Briar showed the woman, Rosethorn, Talia's hand. The woman looked at it and frowned. "Hm," she said thoughtfully. "I see the problem here."

Carefully, she used a fingernail to pry the edge of the leaves away from Talia's hand. They came away easily, and Talia watched as the older woman pulled the leaves from their places around her palm.

When they were off, Talia jumped up from the table. "Thank you!" she said happily, and left the room.

Rosethorn stared after her. "Odd little one, isn't she," she muttered, and turned to Briar. "What happened?"

He told her what he knew, but he seemed distracted. He was still looking in the direction Talia had disappeared in.

Tris rolled her eyes. "I'll contact Sandry."

"What for?"

"Just to speak with her about our newest addition," Tris said mysteriously, and left the room.

"Well, boy, you know what to do. You found her, discovered her magic. It's up to you whether you'll teach her or I will."

Briar thought about it, and turned his grey-green gaze onto his former teacher. "I'll do it. I did, as you say, discover her magic." He was trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing, but it wasn't really working out well for him.

"Tris found her," Daja said, and laughed when Briar glared at her. "Excuse me. I've got to get back to my forge. Frostpine wants this wire tomorrow." She ducked back into the forge, still grinning.

Rosethorn raised an eyebrow at Briar. "Tris found her?" she repeated.

Briar rubbed the back of his neck.

**A/N: So, this is where What Tris Did For Briar would go if it was in the story. Enjoy! Sneak peeks for reviewers :D. Love to all, Sarah**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi! So yeah, between the last chapter and this one is technically where What Tris Did For Briar goes. You don't need to have read it, but I think it's pretty cool, so tak a look! :D Thanks to KrisEleven for her awesome beta work! :D I owe you :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 5**

"So you see," Briar said when he was finished with the story, "I really had no choice."

Rosethorn frowned slightly. "I hope you know what you're doing," she said finally. "Oh, and bring the girl tomorrow when you come to Discipline." She left the house, and Briar went to find Talia.

_Thank you very much, Daj',_ he said to her, and heard her laughter through their connection.

_Anything for you, dear brother,_ she replied.

Briar mumbled a few choice words under his breath as he climbed the stairs. Talia was cleaning one of the rooms on the second floor, across from Daja's room. She was humming quietly as she worked, and Briar couldn't help but stare at her for a minute.

When she finally noticed him, she jumped about a foot in the air. "Oh! Master—Briar, I mean. Is there something I can help you with?"

Briar was at a loss for words until he finally remembered what he'd come up there for. "I wanted to speak with you about your magic," he said.

Talia grinned. She seemed completely opposite from how she'd been the other day. "Magic?" She chuckled lightly. "Slaves don't have magic."

_Is she okay?_ Tris asked, having seen this through Briar's eyes. Briar could tell that Tris thought the girl was on drugs.

_I'm not sure,_ Briar replied truthfully. "Are you all right?" he asked Talia.

She laughed again. "Of course I'm all right!"

Briar hesitated. "Okay…I wanted to speak with you about lessons. Your magic is pretty out of control. I'm not sure why none of us saw it on you before, but you need to be trained."

Talia smiled placidly and kept up with her dusting. "Slaves don't have magic, and you don't need training if you don't have magic," she reasoned.

"But you have magic."

"I'm a slave. Slaves don't ha—" Briar cut her off with a hand over her mouth.

"Enough of that," Briar said. "You're not a slave anymore, anyway."

_Thank you,_ Tris said. _If she said that one more time I was going to have to shock her myself._

Briar rolled his eyes and turned back to Talia. "Since you're not a slave, you have magic, so you need training. End of discussion. Meet me in my workshop in ten minutes."

_What was wrong with her?_ Tris asked.

_No idea. I think she's just going through a bit of denial? Not everyone is so accepting of their magic as we are,_ Briar replied.

_I suppose,_ Tris said skeptically.

xXx

Ten minutes later, Talia stuck her head into Briar's workshop. He looked up from where he was sprinkling herbs onto the ground in a circle. He motioned inside of it.

"Get in. We're learning meditation today."

"So I have to go inside an herb circle?" Talia asked, arching a brow.

"It's a ward," Briar bit out. "I can't raise it if you're not inside, so come on. And close the door to the workshop."

Talia did as asked and plopped down, looking up at Briar. "Why are you so upset?" she asked him.

He turned to look at her, and she could see the surprise on his face. He obviously hadn't expected her to pick up on it. "My sisters," he said after a bit of deliberating. He closed the circle and sat down before raising the ward.

Meditation wasn't as hard as he made it out to be when he explained it to her. But then again, before they'd bought her, she had a lot of practice counting to seven. And standing really still.

When he was satisfied with her progress, Briar let the ward around them drop. "You did well today, Talia," he told her. "We'll meet in here every day at this time to continue." He stood and held out his hand to her.

She looked at it, completely bewildered. "I haven't seen those before," she said, meaning his tattoos.

"I was younger." He shrugged. "Before I came here, I was in a gang, and had been caught three times, so I had the two X's on my hands, marking me as a criminal. I used one of Sandry's needles and some vegetable dyes to make them. They had a mind of their own after that."

Talia continued to look at Briar's tattoos, and then slowly put her hand in his. He pulled her up smoothly, but she overbalanced and almost fell into him. He grabbed her waist to keep her from falling, and she ended up pressed against him.

Slowly, he smiled, making Talia's knees weak. His eyes went from their usual gray-green to a darker green as he looked down into her somewhat frightened eyes. He let go of her and with one hand lifted her face so she couldn't move.

Briar didn't say anything, just bent his head slowly and touched his lips to hers. He let her go suddenly and left his workshop without a word, leaving Talia stunned.

Instead of going back to her chores, Talia went to her room. She didn't especially want to see anyone right now.

xXx

On the other side of the house, Briar was in the company of Daja and Tris. They were waiting for Sandry to arrive. The second Briar had stepped out of his workshop, he'd called Sandry and told her that she needed to come to the house immediately.

"Briar, are you okay?" Tris asked. Of all their friends, Briar was the closest to Tris. That could have had something to do with the fact that when they all lived in Discipline cottage years before, Tris had been the one to teach Briar to read. Since then they'd had a connection that neither of them had with the others.

"I'll be fine once Sandry gets here. Where is she?" He was pacing around the room with his hands stuffed roughly in his pockets.

"She'll be here in a few minutes," Daja said. "Relax, Briar."

Briar glared at her, and then looked down at his hands, which he had just pulled out of his pocket. The flower tattoos on them were mainly black, like his anger at the moment, but there were a few blue flowers that made him think of Talia's eyes, and a few red and pink ones as well.

When Sandry got there, she rushed right to Briar's room. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"I think we should give Talia the room we meant for you," Briar stated bluntly.

The girls just stared at him for a second. Sandry was the first to shrug and say, "Okay."

The others quickly agreed. Briar looked at them suspiciously. "You're not surprised." It was a statement, not a question.

"Not really," Daja said. "Once we found out she has magic, we thought the same thing."

"Rosethorn wants me to bring her when we go to Discipline in the morning," Briar said.

"I agree," Daja said, and her sisters nodded their own agreement. "They should be able to form their own opinions about her."

"Don't we all have other things to be doing?" Briar asked, suddenly upset again.

The girls all shook their heads. "Not at all," Tris said with a grin.

Briar glared at them. "Leave me alone," he muttered, and went back outside.

xXx

He tried to get glimpses of Talia that night, but she refused to join them for dinner, saying as how she should earn her keep.

"I'm still a slave, whatever you say," she told them, ignoring when they protested.

Briar spent a sleepless night in his room, tossing and turning. He kept going back to his _shakkan_ and trying to gather some calm from it, but he found it extraordinarily hard to keep his mind off his new student.

The next morning, Briar was busy finishing the medicines he hadn't gotten to the previous day, what with the unexpected revelation of Talia's magic, and Sandry was elected to find Talia to tell her that she was expected to travel with them to Discipline Cottage later that day.

She looked all around the house for the girl, finally coming across Talia in her own room, staring out the window.

"Talia?"

Talia turned around and dropped into a curtsy. "My lady. I'm sorry. Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, actually. We want you to come with us."

"Where, my lady?"

"Sandry," she corrected. "Discipline Cottage, where Daja, Tris, Briar and I grew up."

"I couldn't," Talia said, looking down at herself.

"It's fine, I promise."

Talia went, though unwillingly. She and the others traveled on horseback to the Winding Circle temple, and to Discipline Cottage, where they dismounted. Briar took Talia's horse's reins, and hitched them to the gate next to Daja, Tris and Sandry's.

"Well, Rosie said you'd have someone with you today," a pleasant voice said from the door.

"This is Talia. She's Briar's new student," Daja said when it became clear that Briar wasn't about to open his mouth.

"Come in, then. It's nice to meet you, Talia. I'm Dedicate Lark, but you can just call me Lark. This is Rosethorn. I heard you've met." She gestured to another woman just inside the cottage.

"Nice to see you again." Rosethorn spoke with a slight slur to her voice, but she spoke slowly so everyone could understand her. "My boy," she said over Talia's head to Briar.

"Rosethorn," Briar said.

"How are the gardens at your house?"

"They're doing well, thank you."

"Okay. And your teaching of Talia?"

"We started meditation yesterday after you left," Briar said.

"And?"

"She's powerful. It was surprising we didn't see it before."

"It was probably covered by the magics on her from when she was a slave," Tris said reasonably.

Lark inspected the girl, who was standing placidly behind Briar. She looked, however, anything but placid. Her jaw was set, and her blue eyes were flashing in anger. "What upsets you, child?" she asked.

Talia didn't answer. Briar turned to look at her. "Talia?" he asked, confused.

"She still doesn't believe she's not a slave anymore," Tris said, obviously bored by the situation.

"I am a slave!" Talia exclaimed. "Can't you stop getting my hopes up?"

"You don't wear a collar anymore," Briar reminded her.

"Despite that," Talia spat at him. "I am still a slave."

"Hush, girl," Rosethorn said, growing impatient. "You're not a slave, and you'd better get it through your pretty head that they'd not have taken you in with the intention of keeping a collar around your neck."

"You're a mage now," Lark intoned, her voice softer but no less firm than Rosethorn's. "Briar's student. You don't answer to anyone but yourself now."

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It's a bit different than the original, I think. I can't really remember that well :D. But anyway, reviewers get sneak peeks :D Love to all! Sarah**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Presenting chapter 6. Thanks to **KrisEleven** for all her hard work! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP!

**Chapter 6**

The four and Talia stayed until past dinner at Discipline Cottage. When it was getting dark, they all rose to leave. "It was nice meeting you, Talia," Lark said.

"It was nice meeting you, too," she said, having gained more respect for the woman who had helped raise the four during their dinner.

"Come back any time you like," Lark told her, and Rosethorn nodded agreement, though she didn't actually say anything.

"Wait. I want to show you something," Briar said quickly. "Rosethorn?" He looked at his old teacher, and she nodded. He looked over at his foster-sisters, and they looked a little curious and confused. "You girls go on without us. We won't be long."

They shrugged in unison and Sandry waved her goodbye to Talia. She was heading back to Duke's Citadel instead of Cheeseman Street.

Briar took Talia through the back door into a splendid garden. All the plants and greenery reached out to Briar, but some of them strained to get to Talia. She moved back to the center of the path, trying to get away from them.

Briar noticed and took her by the hand. "Don't be afraid of them. They won't hurt you." He led her closer to the plants, smiling while she still tried to avoid their reaching leaves.

"I'm not scared," Talia insisted, making Briar smile even more.

A few seconds later, Talia felt something like a shift in the garden. She opened her eyes and saw that Rosethorn had come outside. All of the plants, even the ones that had seemed interested in her before, were now reaching out to Rosethorn. It was like they couldn't stand to be away from her, like she was their personal sun.

"I want to show you how to speak with Rosethorn or me over long distances," Briar said. He was still holding her hand. Rosethorn saw and raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't comment.

Together, Briar and Rosethorn showed Talia how to shove her power through the leaves. They taught her how to recognize one of them by their magic, and how to keep her magic channeled to where she wanted it to go. "You've got to practice," Rosethorn said. "I'm sure Briar will help."

"Only use this in an emergency," Briar warned her, and she nodded solemnly. "All right, we can go now."

They said goodbye to Lark and Rosethorn, and went outside to where their horses were still standing. Briar moved to pick Talia up by the waist to put her in the saddle, but she evaded his grasp.

"I can do it myself, thanks."

Briar shrugged. "All right, then." He moved toward his horse.

"I'm not a proper lady anyway," Talia said, and mounted her horse. "Well?"

He looked up at her. She smiled down at him. "It's getting dark. We should be going."

He mounted his horse and they set off at a brisk pace toward their house. When they got there, he dismounted first and gave his reins to one of the servants. He went to Talia and took her by the waist before she could object. She looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"How old are you?" Briar asked suddenly. He was still holding onto her.

"Of all the questions you could ask me when we're in a position like this, you ask me how old I am?" Talia's mouth turned up into a slight smile, though it was obvious she was trying to suppress it.

"Just answer the question, will you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm eighteen," she said, ducking her head lightly.

"Pretty sure?"

"If my math is correct," she added.

"If your math is correct."

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?" she asked, and Briar shook himself.

"Sorry. So, eighteen."

"I believe so." Talia nodded.

"Okay." Without warning, Briar bent his head to kiss her. Talia smiled against his lips and he pulled away. "Something funny about the way I kiss?"

"Not at all," Talia replied.

"Good." He kissed her again.

When they finally came up for air, they were both panting a little. Their arms were still wrapped around each other, and they didn't seem to notice that they were out in the open and anyone could look into the yard and see them. It just didn't matter.

"Come to bed with me, Talia," Briar whispered roughly after a few more impassioned kisses.

Talia froze in place and then pushed him away. "Goodnight, Briar," she said, and walked up to the house.

He rushed after her and spun her around to face him. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the fire in her eyes.

"I won't be your bedwarmer," she said through clenched teeth. "I don't care if that's why you bought me. You set me free and took off the collar. I don't have to do what you say."

"That's not why I asked," Briar returned. He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. She glared at him and wrenched her hand out of his grasp.

"Let me go."

"Not until you listen to me." Briar took a breath. "We didn't buy you so you could be a bedwarmer, Talia."

"No? Why then?"

Briar swallowed visibly. "That's not the issue here, Talia."

"Oh? What is, then?"

"The issue is that you and I both know that there's something going on between us, and that you'll end up with me whether you want to or not."

"Now you're telling me what I know? What gives you that right, Briar Moss?"

Briar stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands and made her look at him. When he spoke, his deep voice was audibly deeper, huskier, laced with desire. "I can see it in your eyes," he told her.

Talia looked up at him and felt her heart beating faster. He continued to stare down at her, waiting for her to say something. It was as if her mouth was glued shut. Finally, he sighed. "I'm not going to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. But think about this for a while." He bent his head to kiss her again.

Talia's first reaction was that this was nothing like their lazy and tender kisses from minutes before. This was a hard kiss, and there was nothing remotely sweet about it. Their lips moved together in concert, and Talia felt her hands drift up Briar's arms and over his shoulders.

Suddenly, too suddenly for her taste, he moved away, dropping his hands and disentangling himself from Talia's arms. "Goodnight, Talia." He ran a hand over his short cropped hair and walked inside. He slammed the door to his room.

Talia slowly went to her room. Daja was waiting there for her. Talia flushed in embarrassment as the older girl took in her flushed face and kiss-bruised lips. "I'm going to show you to your new room," Daja said, standing.

"New room? I don't need a new room."

"Talia, you're not a servant anymore. You're Briar's student, and don't have to work for room and board anymore. Come on."

Daja watched as Talia quickly put together all of her things, of which there were few, and then showed her up the stairs to the room Sandry had measured her in earlier that day. "You'll be sleeping in here."

"Thank you, Daja."

"It's our pleasure, Talia." Daja smiled reassuringly and left, closing the door behind her. It took a while for Talia to relax enough to even feel like lying down. Not only because it was a new bed in a new room. She had a lot to think about, like Briar had said. She lay in bed, but couldn't sleep.

Finally, she got up. She went to the open window and looked out, down to the ground floor. Her room was on the second level of the house, but there was the kitchen roof down below. She pulled out a couple pieces of metal that she'd found earlier that day while cleaning and put them into the pocket of her nightgown. She carefully lowered herself out the window and onto the kitchen roof.

When she was safe, she looked over the edge, right into Briar's garden. She smiled grimly, and then started to lower herself down. She felt long leaves of the plants below her reaching out to wrap themselves around her ankles, but tried to ignore them and keep her mind on her task.

When her feet were only four feet from the ground, she let herself drop, and tried to be careful of the plants all around her. They started to tangle themselves around her, and finally, she pushed a little of her magic away from herself and into them. They fell back to where they had been, content with the little bit of her they had been given, and Talia breathed a sigh of relief. That could have been disastrous.

She walked carefully up to the door that led from the gardens into Briar's room and sank to her knees to peer at the lock on it. It was locked up tight. Talia frowned and fished the metal pieces out of her pocket, and went to work.

She smiled when she heard the small click of the tumbler turning, and stood up, sliding the metal pieces back into her pocket. She opened the door quietly and stepped inside. She looked at the bed, bathed in the moonlight, but he wasn't there.

Suddenly, she felt a hard, muscled arm grab her around the middle, pinning her arms to her sides, and felt a sharp dagger press against her throat. "Don't you know better than to sneak into a mage's room?" he asked, voice low. "Especially one who grew up on the streets?"

"Briar, it's me!" Talia whispered, and the dagger was instantly gone from her skin. He turned her to face him, and peered closely at her face.

"Talia, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I thought about what happened earlier, and what you said." She was glad it was dark because it meant that he couldn't see the blush staining her cheeks.

"Oh?" he leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest, which Talia had just noticed was bare.

"I thought about it," she repeated.

"And? What did you come up with?" He was mad at her.

Talia rolled her eyes. "Don't be mad at me just because I said no to you earlier," she told him.

Briar sighed and came over to her. "I'm not mad," he told her, folding her into a gentle hug. "What did you come up with when you were thinking about earlier?" His voice was more tender now.

"I think you're right."

Briar grinned. "I meant, aside from the obvious."

Talia glared at him and hit his chest with her fist. "That's not funny at all," she said.

"I'm sorry. Go on. You think I'm right…"

"I think you're right about there being something between us."

"At the moment, it's too many clothes," Briar muttered, and Talia let out a half laugh. "So you felt the need to sneak into my room in the middle of the night to tell me you thought there was something between us."

Talia nodded and was again glad for the dark. "You may have a point about the clothes, though," she said shyly, looking up at him from under her lashes.

"Do I, now?" Briar's voice deepened slightly. "I thought you didn't want to be a bedwarmer."

"You said that wasn't why you asked me to go to bed with you," Talia murmured, and moved her hands down to the buttons on her nightgown.

Briar stopped her with a hand on hers. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sure enough to go out of the window to get down here instead of going through the house," she replied.

"Well, then, let me do that." Briar brushed her hands away and finished unbuttoning her gown.

**A/N: Yeah, I know it seems like they've moved fast. But it's Briar. :D And we love him for that. Please review. If you do, you'll get a sneak peek of the next chapter! Love to all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

The next morning, Briar woke first, smiling widely. He glanced down to see Talia's pale blond hair spread out over his chest. He reached up to stroke it lightly, and she looked up at him a minute later, blue eyes twinkling as she smiled sleepily.

"Morning, love," Briar said softly.

"Morning," Talia replied.

He pulled her up so their lips met. "Did you sleep well?" He grinned impishly, knowing she hadn't gotten much sleep at all.

She grinned and used her hands as a pillow for her chin on his chest. "Fine, you?"

"Better than fine. Where did you learn to pick locks? I thought only thieves and spies could do that." He stroked her long hair, pushing it out of her face.

She didn't say anything, but continued to smile at him, and she flushed a little. "Thief or spy?" Briar asked, laughing.

"I grew up on the streets of the city, until I was thirteen. I learned all sorts of things, like picking locks and picking pockets, when I needed to."

"You? On the streets? No way."

"Honest," Talia replied, smiling.

"And what happened when you were thirteen?"

"There was a woman near where I used to sleep who gave me odd jobs in exchange for food sometimes. One night, she sent men out to find me and bring me to her. She had a mage put a collar around my neck and told me I was a slave now, and I had to do everything she said. In return, I would get a safe place to sleep and regular meals."

"How'd you end up at the pens?" he began to ask, but suddenly felt his sisters in his mind.

_Briar? Have you seen Talia?_ That was Sandry, and it looked like she was carrying a few dresses in her arms. _She's not in her room._

_I think he's seen her, all right,_ Daja said, and Briar heard the smile in her mind-voice.

"Get dressed," he told Talia, who raised her eyebrows at him.

"This is how you treat your lovers?" she asked him half-jokingly as she got out of the bed and pulled on her discarded nightgown.

"The girls know you're in here," Briar said.

"But…how?" Talia asked. Her hands froze on the buttons of her gown.

Briar pulled on a pair of trousers and fastened them before going over to her. "We have a mind-connection," he said as he did up the rest of her buttons. "We can speak to each other through our minds," he elaborated when Talia just looked dumbstruck.

"How…what? How is that possible?"

"Long story short, when we were ten, we got trapped in an earthquake and Sandry wove our magics together, and that's how it happened. Go away!" he yelled just before there was a knock on his door.

"Oops! Sorry," Sandry called back. "Just tell her we'd like to see her, all right?"

"Fine, fine," Briar replied. He turned back to look at Talia. "They're gone. You can go up now." His mouth dropped open. "Talia?" He looked around, but she wasn't there. He even looked under his bed and in his wardrobe, but there was no sign of her. It was then that he noticed the door to his garden was open.

He grinned and went to look outside. Of course, she wasn't there. He shut the door quietly and proceeded to get ready for the day.

xXx

Talia had already changed from her nightgown and into one of her two dresses when there was a knock on the door. After taking a huge breath, she opened the door. Sandry, Daja and Tris were all standing outside.

"Can we come in?" Sandry asked. "I brought the clothes I made for you." Talia stood aside, and they all came in. "I'm pretty sure they'll fit, but you should try them on just so I can be sure," Sandry was saying, and she laid the shirts, breeches, and a couple dresses on the bed. When Talia didn't move, Sandry waved a hand at her. "Well, go on."

With raised eyebrows, Talia did as she was told, feeling that this wasn't the reason they were really here. "So tell us about your childhood," Sandry said while Talia changed.

"I was a slave," Talia replied when her head was through the top of the dress.

"Before you were a slave, I meant," Sandry said. She said the word 'slave' as if it were 'dung' or something equally repulsive. "You weren't one all your life, were you?"

"No. I lived in the city for as long as I could remember. A street rat." She wasn't ashamed of it like she probably should have been. But if Briar didn't care, neither would she.

The girls looked surprised. Sandry was the first to recover. "That dress looks nice on you. It doesn't need to be altered at all."

"I know that all three of you didn't need to be here while I tried on my dresses," Talia finally said softly. She didn't want to offend them or anything. "What's going on?"

The three women looked at each other a bit sheepishly. Even Tris didn't look like her usual fierce self. "Well, we wanted to speak with you about…well, about Briar," Sandry said.

"I know you warned me away from him," Talia began, but Daja interrupted her.

"That's not what we wanted to talk about," she said.

"Well, not about us warning you away from him," Tris interjected. "More about what you're going to do."

Talia felt herself blushing, and looked down. "I had figured on taking it one day at a time," she said truthfully.

"I don't think you're doing this just because of who he is," Sandry said firmly. "So I'm not worried about that. What I am worried about is how you think we see you. I don't want you to think we think less of you for being…"

"Briar's lover?" Tris supplied, and Sandry nodded through the flush on her cheekbones.

"Exactly. Thank you. We think it's wonderful."

"Are you sure you're not just speaking for yourself, Lady Sandry?" Talia raised a brow as she looked at Daja and Tris.

Daja smiled. "She's not. I may not have used the term 'wonderful,' but the emotion is the same. It's about time Briar found someone serious." She muttered the last sentence, but everyone else still heard her.

Talia blushed and tried to hide her smile. "I don't know what to say."

"I just have one thing to say," Tris said, and Talia looked over curiously. "If you hurt him in some way, we will hurt you. He doesn't deserve that from anyone."

Sandry and Daja nodded once, but they smiled. It was the smiles that frightened Talia the most. She believed they could hurt her if they wanted.

"Have a good day, Talia," Daja said, and she and Tris left the room.

"Those dresses are spelled against wrinkles, tears and dirt," Sandry said. "Thank you for speaking to us."

"Did I really have a choice?"

Sandry smiled. "Not really." The two women shared a smile, and Sandry left the room.

The day passed rather quickly, to Talia. She had lessons from Briar before lunch, and went to the market with Daja and Tris before coming home to eat dinner. After dinner, Briar was giving her more lessons, and Tris asked her up to her room.

"I have a book I think you'll like," the redhead said, handing over a large volume.

"Thank you," Talia said, cradling the book close to her body. She didn't want to do anything to hurt it. "I'll take good care of it."

Tris smiled a little. "I hope so. I don't lend out my books. Go on downstairs. Briar wants to speak with you."

"Thank you again, Tris," Talia said, and left. She put the book on her bed to read later, and then continued downstairs to where Briar was waiting.

"Come outside with me," he said, looking around.

"Looking for your sisters?" Talia asked, laughing as he took her hand to drag her outside. "I thought they could hear you…mind-to-mind?"

"Only when I don't close myself off," he replied, smiling as he took her in his arms to kiss her. "I've hardly gotten you to myself all day," he replied when they parted.

"I've been learning magecraft," she retorted, grinning. "My teacher says I must."

"What a stuffy old teacher," Briar said, lowering his head to kiss Talia's neck.

"I don't know. I kind of like him."

She could feel Briar's smile against her skin. "Are you spending the night with me again?" he asked softly.

"Your sisters know," Talia reminded him.

"And I believe I heard them say they thought it was 'wonderful,' and it was about time I found someone serious."

Talia shook her head, smiling. "You were listening?"

"Of course. I couldn't not listen. How'd you manage to get back into your room without them seeing you?"

"It wasn't that hard. I climbed up the stairs after I went in through the kitchen door." Her sarcasm made Briar grin.

"Clever." He tweaked her nose. "What do you say? Do I have to persuade you again?"

She shook her head and reached up to kiss him. "No, you don't have to persuade me," she murmured against his lips, and felt him smile as his arms pulled her closer, as if she could sink into his skin.

The next morning, Talia woke before dawn and smiled at Briar, lying next to her with his arm slung over her waist, holding her to him even in sleep. "Briar?" she whispered.

"Mm?"

"I have a question."

"What, love?" He still didn't open his eyes.

"Why did you buy me?" He didn't reply for a moment. His eyes were closed, features relaxed like he was still sleeping.

"Because I loved you the moment I saw you." The second the final words were out of his mouth, his eyes shot open in horror. Talia was looking back at him, wide-eyed.

**A/N: I'm uploading multiple chapters, so enjoy the treat! :D Love to all, Sarah**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Again, sorry for the wait! :D Enjoy and please review!**

**Chapter 8**

"You what?" she asked, her voice rising an octave or two as she tried to scramble out of the bed.

Briar caught her around the waist and pulled her to him. "Wait, Talia. Wait a second. Just hold on." He closed his eyes tightly, trying to think clearly for a second.

Her body was so tense she was like a statue, and just as cold. "Briar, what's going on?" she asked.

"Sandry hates slavery," he whispered, eyes still tightly shut.

"I could tell. Don't try to change the subject. This is about you, not Lady Sandry."

"Sandry hates slavery," Briar repeated. "And we have to walk by the pens when we walk through the city. She tries not to look, but when I saw you there, with my own eyes, it took over my entire mind. I couldn't help it. The girls could all see my reaction to you, from both inside my head and from outside."

Talia squirmed in his grasp. "Briar, let me go!" she exclaimed softly.

"No. Just let me finish."

"Briar."

"I said let me finish. You wanted to know why we bought you; here's the explanation." His arms tightened around her.

"Briar, wait! What does that mean, 'with your own eyes'?" He didn't answer, and she waited with bated breath. "Well?"

"Tris can scry the wind. She was up in her tower and the wind was blowing from the direction of the pens, and she got sight of you. I happened to see it. A while later, we went walking in the city. That was when we bought you." He looked down. Her face was turned toward him finally, and her blue eyes were trained on his face. She didn't look as scared as she had before.

"I couldn't stand the thought of you living as a slave, of having that collar chafe your beautiful neck one more day." He slid down to nuzzle said neck, and the scar that had basically disappeared from it. "Of having some other man look at you the way I do. Of knowing you might fall in love with someone other than me. I couldn't bear it."

He kissed his way up her neck to her jaw, skated over her cheek to kiss her lips. She didn't respond for a second, but then her arms were twining about him as she kissed him back.

_Briar? Can you please stop projecting to us?_ Tris asked a few minutes later. She sounded kind of embarrassed. _It's getting to be a bit much._

_I'm not projecting._

_Yes you are. Please stop. I don't think I can handle it any- Briar! I mean it!_ she screeched.

Briar grinned and paid her no mind. _Briar, I can see exactly what's going on in th-_Briar!_ Briar Moss! It is not below me to summon Rosethorn!_

_You don't have to look, Coppercurls,_ he replied. _Our connection goes both ways, you know._

_Briar, you're making me sick! And I've tried! It's completely open, no way to close it!_

_And Sandry and Daja?_

_They look just as green as I feel._

_I'll do my best,_ Briar told her, and closed off his connection.

"What's got you in such good humor?" Talia asked breathlessly. "Not that I dislike it, mind."

"Apparently, I was projecting," he replied, and couldn't help the grin that crossed his face at the look on Talia's face.

"What?"

"I closed the connection, don't worry. They can't see anything now."

"They could see?!" Briar started laughing, and collapsed on top of her in a fit of hilarity. After a few seconds, Talia found the humor in the situation as well, and started giggling quietly.

When they had calmed down enough to take a few breaths, Talia hit Briar's arm. "If you ever let them see anything again, I will be very unhappy with you."

"Understood." He kissed her again.

_Not that again._ He could practically see Sandry's eyes rolling. _Briar, you've got to let her get up at some point._

_Not yet, I don't,_ he disagreed, and closed off their connection.

xXx

A while later, Talia emerged from her bedroom dressed in a dress Sandry had made for her, instead of breeches. She started downstairs automatically, wanting to go to the kitchen, but then remembered she wasn't expected to.

She wasn't made for doing nothing, she found half an hour later, when she was gazing out the window with nothing to do. Sighing, she picked up the book Tris had loaned her and made her way to the library. When she got to it, she found the redhead already reading.

Tris looked up and smiled cautiously. Talia remembered that morning and turned bright red. Her blush triggered Tris's, when the other woman figured out what was making Talia blush. They both started laughing while they avoided each other's gaze.

"You can come in," Tris said, putting a finger in her book to mark her page. "Are you all right?"

"Bored, mostly. I don't know what to do with myself. Briar told me that I didn't have to do anything anymore."

Tris rolled her eyes. "Briar doesn't know what he's talking about. He's a bit lazy with everything but his plants, if you haven't noticed. I helped Kendre in the kitchen until you came." She smiled wryly.

"Briar told me the reason you bought me." Tris nodded slowly, wondering where this was going, and why Talia was talking to her. It wasn't a problem, just strange. People usually talked to Daja, or Sandry, even, before her. "Was it…did…did he intend for everything that happened to…happen?" she asked in a halting voice.

Tris closed her book fully and set it to the side. "Is that what you're worried about?"

Talia nodded slightly. "I mean, when he first brought up the subject…I told him that I didn't want to be someone's bedwarmer, even if that was what he bought me for."

"You shouldn't think that of him," Tris said, more angrily than she meant to.

Talia shrank back in her chair. "I'm trying not to. I know what some men see when they look at me. It's why I was sent to the slave pens." She brushed at a tear or two that had made their way onto her cheeks.

"What happened?"

"The woman who forced me into slavery in the first place had a son a little older than me. I guess he's close in age to you and the others. He would watch me whenever I was in the same room with him, and would try to touch me whenever he had the chance. He tried to kiss me a few times, but he was interrupted by other servants."

She shook her head and wrung her hands. "When my mistress found out about it, she sent me to the pens. As a punishment for her son, she told me. She didn't like the thought that he was attracted to someone so far beneath him, even if I was pretty."

"Was he the only one?" Tris asked.

Talia shook her head. "There were a few others. My mistress liked to throw parties, and I usually served at them. Her husband noticed that when I was in the room, no one was thinking about anyone else, so he had me stay in the room 'in case someone needed anything.' Really, he was just cheating at cards."

"Are you happy here, Talia?" Tris asked a few seconds later.

"Very. Happier than I've been in a long time. Tris, please don't tell Briar what we talked about."

Tris nodded. "I promise."

**A/N: One more chapter tonight, and then I'll try to update on a regular (sort of) schedule. I really do have all of this finished, so it's just a matter of getting off my butt and posting. Love to all, Sarah**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Last chapter for tonight. I hope you enjoy it! Please review!**

**Chapter 9**

After lessons and lunch, Sandry arrived, all smiles. "Hi, Talia," she said, seeing Talia on her way to find something to do.

"Lady Sandry. I thought you were here this whole time."

"No. I went back to the Citadel earlier. My uncle wants to meet you," she said. "He's really nice, I promise."

"Your uncle?"

Sandry nodded. "Duke Vedris."

Talia's jaw dropped. "Duke…Vedris?! My lady, no. I couldn't. I can't! I'm just a slave, and a…a street rat! I couldn't meet him!"

"Briar was a street rat when they met. And you're not a slave, or a maid, or a servant. You're free and you're going to stay that way."

"Why are you giving Talia a lecture?" Daja asked as she passed them on her way out of the forge.

"Uncle wants to meet her."

"He's very nice," Daja said, and continued up the stairs.

"See?" Sandry smirked in Talia's direction. "I told him you would come the day after tomorrow. That gives me enough time to get everything ready."

"Sandry! Can you come here a moment? I need to talk to you," Briar shouted from his workroom.

xXx Three hours later xXx

She was bored. Really, really bored. She sat on her bed and stared out her window. Now that she wasn't even a servant, she had nothing to get her through the day.

Briar was down in his workroom, doing something he wouldn't let Talia see. It was aggravating. Tris was either reading or scrying the wind, and Daja was out visiting her old teacher, Frostpine, at Winding Circle. Sandry was back at Duke's Citadel, preparing for their visit in a couple days.

She'd heard Sandry and Briar arguing about that visit, and whether or not it was necessary. Sandry had won, stating that Vedris was the one who wanted to meet her and Briar would have to deal with it.

Talia was busy dusting her new room when she heard a soft chuckle. She turned and saw Briar standing in the doorway. "Why are you dusting?" he asked.

"I like a clean room," Talia said with a shrug.

"You're not a maid anymore, Talia. You don't have to do this, especially in a room you never sleep in," he said, coming up to take the rag from her. His face was close to hers, and he kissed her gently.

"I like dusting," Talia insisted, taking the rag back from him.

Briar laughed. "No one likes dusting."

"Well I do!" Talia exclaimed, whirling around to face him. "I like dusting, and I like my room to be dusted, okay? Just because you don't like housework doesn't mean nobody does!" She poked him in the chest, and tried to turn away from him, but he caught her hand and pulled her back to him.

"You're beautiful when you're angry," he said softly, and bent his head to kiss her.

She felt herself softening toward him, so she wrenched herself out of his grasp. "Leave me alone, Briar Moss!" she said, hitting his chest to keep him away from her.

He didn't seem fazed, just smiled down at her. "You know, if you're bored, you can go into the city. Do some shopping, something."

Since she couldn't think of anything to say, Talia let out a frustrated scream and threw the rag as hard as she could at Briar and stomped past him, muttering, "Beautiful when I'm angry. Hah! He's just trying to soften me up, the arrogant slime." She stormed down the stairs and almost ran into Tris.

"Sorry!" she said, a little more forcefully than necessary.

Tris stopped the younger woman with a hand on Talia's arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I'm going out."

"Out where?"

"Out!" Talia ran out of the house and collapsed against the fence. She wiped away her angry tears and then calmly strode through the gate. She walked into the city, just as Briar had suggested, enjoying the feel of the wind against her face.

After she passed Talia on the stairs, Tris went to find Briar. He was just coming down the stairs, a big smile on his face. "What did you do to Talia?" she asked, blocking his path.

"I didn't do anything to her except tell her that she didn't have to dust anymore, and that she should go shopping or something if she was bored."

"He also told her she was beautiful when she was angry," Daja said, passing them on her way to her own room. "I heard it with my own ears. Is she still here?"

"No, she left," Tris replied. "She looked upset, Briar."

"Oh, she'll get over it soon enough," he said, disregarding his sister's observation.

Tris sighed. "Briar, she's not used to being able to do whatever she wants." Tris walked upstairs to her room, went to the window and pulled her tinted glasses off so she could feel the wind on her face with no obstruction.

--

Talia walked to the market, wanting to look around a bit. It had been a long time since she was outside without someone making sure she wasn't going to try to escape.

She was almost there when she heard someone call out to her. "Talia?" a man called, sounding incredulous.

Talia turned around and saw someone she'd hoped never to see again. Her old mistress' son, Harold. She faced forward again without saying anything, hoping to reach the market quickly.

"Don't be like that, sweetheart! I'm just being friendly!" Harold called. "It's been so long since I've seen you, love!"

Talia didn't say anything and continued on her way, desperately looking for somewhere she might be safe. The only likely place was far out of her way; even if she tried to run away, Harold was probably faster.

"Hey, don't toy with me, chit," Harold said. He sounded closer this time, like he was right behind her.

"Please, just leave me alone," Talia finally said over her shoulder. He was just behind her, so close she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Why would I want to leave a pretty thing like you alone?" he asked, grinning.

Before Talia could find a place to be safe, he grabbed her by her wrist. He spun her around and she stumbled, falling into him. "See, there? I knew you'd warm up to me," he said, and leaned down to press his lips to hers.

Talia turned her face away from him, and he released one of her wrists to slap her hard across the face. "I'll teach you to turn from me," he growled. "Slave slut."

He forced her into the bushes at the side of the road, and pushed her to the ground. He held her down with one hand at her wrists, pinning her to the ground. She tried to kick, but Harold grabbed her legs with his other hand and forced them open, kneeling between them so she couldn't close her legs.

He started to push up Talia's skirt, and she screamed loudly, still struggling to get away, but Harold reached up and slapped her so hard she saw stars, and her vision started to go dark. She prayed for help to come, and when she felt her skirts pulled up to her waist, she prayed for it to be over soon.

--

"Briar!" Tris screamed, and shoved her glasses back on her face. "Briar! Briar, where did you go?!" She ran to find him, only to bump into him a second later.

"What is it, Coppercurls?" he asked, catching her by her upper arms so she wouldn't fall over.

She showed him the image she'd just seen, and he raced out the door, forgetting about whatever task he'd just begun. All that mattered was that he got to Talia in time.

He ran down the street as fast as he could, and found the bushes where the man had pushed through when he was still fairly far down the street. Praying he wasn't too late, he reached out with his magic.

He reached out to the vines surrounding Talia and her attacker, telling them to get between the woman and the man. They obeyed him eagerly.

By the time Briar caught up to the place where Talia had been, it looked like a jungle. The bushes and vines were twisted everywhere. "Talia!" Briar called, pushing the bushes aside to try and find her. He saw a man pulling up and fastening his trousers, trying to escape the vines that were attempting to wrap themselves around him. Blood was running down his face, but the man didn't seem to notice.

Briar pushed away his fury until after he found Talia. He saw that the bushes had formed a kind of cave over her, thorns pointed out so that if anyone came close, they couldn't get through. He asked the bushes to part over her so he could see her. They did, and Briar's heart nearly broke.

Talia was curled in a ball on the ground, sobbing. Her dress was hiked up, had obviously been around her waist, but had come down to rest on her thighs. There were bruises already forming on her knees, and there was a hand print that showed bright red against the paleness of her cheek.

"Talia," Briar said, kneeling at her side. He reached out to touch her face, but she flinched away from him and cried out. "Talia, it's me. It's Briar. You're safe now."

"Briar!" He heard Tris calling his name.

"Here!" he called back, knowing she'd be able to find him.

"Oh, my-Talia." Tris looked around and saw the man tangled in the bushes. He had a long scratch under one eye. It looked to Tris as though there was a thorn stuck in the soft skin of his cheek. One false move and he'd poke out his own eye.

"The bitch deserved it," Harold spat, quietly enough so that Briar couldn't hear him. Tris stood stunned. By the time she'd regained herself and looked for him, he was gone.

"Briar, he got away," she said, ready to curse herself. She could have gotten him, but then he'd surprised her.

"No!" Briar was still kneeling at Talia's side, trying to make her understand that she was safe and had nothing to fear anymore.

"Briar, you need to take her home, do you understand?" Tris was speaking through clenched teeth.

"Talia, look at me," Briar pleaded with her. "Talia, please, love. Look at me." He didn't notice the tears falling down his face, but Tris did. "Tris, help me. She won't look at me," Briar sobbed. He wasn't touching Talia at all; any time he tried, she shrank away from him, and he couldn't bear to upset her more.

Tris knelt and gently took Talia's face in her hands, even though the girl flinched and tried to draw away. "Talia, it's over," she said. "There's nothing to be afraid of. He can't hurt you anymore. Look." She turned Talia's face to look at the empty place where the man had been.

"Briar," Talia whispered brokenly, and he was there.

"Take her back to the house," Tris said. "Make her some of your sleepy tea, and I'll be home soon. You did a good job with the vines and the bushes."

Briar looked up at Tris for a second. "Tris, I only put magic into the vines." He looked down at Talia and tweaked his vision, seeing her magic as a deep green shimmer. It reached out into the plants surrounding her, practically engulfing them in green fire.

Briar gathered Talia in his arms and picked her up smoothly after pulling her skirts down to where they were supposed to be. He started walking with her down the street toward their house, and her arms came around his neck.

**A/N: I hope you all liked this slew of chapters Ive given you tonight. Enjoy! Please review. Love to all, Sarah**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here's chapter 10! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love you all! :D**

**Chapter 10**

Tris watched them for a moment, and then reached out to Sandry and Daja. Briefly, through their connection, she told them what had happened. They were completely shocked, and wanted to go see Talia right away.

Briar gathered Talia in his arms and picked her up smoothly after pulling her skirts down to where they were supposed to be. He started walking with her down the street toward their house, and her arms came around his neck, holding him tightly while she cried.

She was still sobbing into his shirt when they arrived at home. Briar set her down on his bed and sat next to her. "I'm going to make you tea that will help you sleep, okay?" he said to her.

She clutched at his hand. "Don't leave me," she whispered.

"I'll be right back, I promise. You're safe here." Though he felt a pull on his heart, Briar let go of Talia's hand and went into the kitchen. As he waited for the water to heat, he scrubbed his hands over his face and discovered the tears that still lingered there. He hit his fist into the wall next to the fireplace but didn't say anything.

He brought a cup of tea into his room and set it gently on the table next to the bed. He sat down next to Talia. "I brought the tea." He looked down at her and saw how pale she still was, how empty her usually captivating blue eyes were, and he felt a rush of rage pass through him that made his hands shake.

He shook with anger, asking himself how anyone could do something like this to someone like Talia. He had to stand up and go to his _shakkan_, letting its infinite calm pour into him, before he could touch Talia and be sure that none of his rage at her attackers would cross over to his touch.

He put an arm around her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position. He took the cup of tea from the table and brought it to Talia's lips.

"Please, love, drink the tea," he murmured when she turned her face away. "Look at me."

She turned to meet his gaze with her own, and Briar could see that her eyes were filling with tears again. "Please don't cry, love. You're safe now. Drink the tea. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Finally, after some more coaxing, Talia drank the tea and was soon asleep. Briar had his arms around her, holding her close to him. He let the feel of her, warm and soft in his arms, chase the waking nightmares away.

_Briar!_ Two voiced called to him in his head at once. _We heard what happened! Is Talia okay?_ That was Sandry, but Briar could hear Daja's concern in her presence in his mind.

_I'm not sure. I gave her tea and she's sleeping right now._

_Let us know when she's awake,_ Daja said, and closed her connection. Sandry followed suit. Briar closed off his mind to his sisters so he wouldn't have to talk to them right now. He was feeling vulnerable enough as it was, without having his sisters around to poke around inside his head if they wanted to.

xXx

Tris herself went straight up to her tower room when she got home, totally bypassing the downstairs. She'd wait until Briar or Talia called for her. She picked up a book and tried to read it, but all she could see was Talia lying on the ground sobbing.

Through all the things she'd been through, from killing pirates to saving Sandry from a kidnapper in Namorn and defying an empress, she'd never seen anything that made her as angry as this. At least she and her friends had each other and their ability to speak mind to mind.

If Tris hadn't been able to see things on the wind, they probably wouldn't have known about Harold and what he did to Talia. Tris threw her book as hard as she could onto the bed and left the house as loudly as she dared. She went to Discipline, and saw Lark and Rosethorn. They knew her well enough to know that she would tell them what happened in her own time, if she wanted to.

They let her say nothing, even though they could tell she was in a vile mood. Lark mothered her and Rosethorn looked on, knowing that her most temperamental foster-daughter just needed to work through her anger.

Finally, Tris burst. She started yelling and screaming and ranting about men who thought it was okay to try and rape someone on a public street, just because they were men.

"Tris, dear, what brought this on?" Lark finally asked.

Tris paced around the room while she told them. When she'd finished, both of them were completely silent with shock. "Is she okay?" Lark finally asked.

"Briar's at home with her, taking care of her. I was there for a while, but I couldn't stand it there. I had to get out."

"Who was he?" Rosethorn asked. Her face told Tris that she was ready to go hurt the man who did this.

"I don't know," Tris said. "He got away before we could do anything."

"Did you get there…in time?" Lark asked.

Tris shrugged. "I don't know, and I doubt we will until Talia wakes up and feels ready to talk."

xXx

Briar didn't know how long she'd slept; a few minutes, a few hours. It was all the same to him right now. No matter how quickly or slowly time was passing, it felt the same.

She stirred in his arms as the sun set. "Briar?" her voice was weak and hoarse.

"I'm right here."

She turned in his grasp and looked up at him. "Briar." She reached up with a trembling hand and touched his face, her fingertips brushing his cheek and coasting over his jaw and up to his lips.

She let her hand drop and put her head on his chest. "Are you all right?" Briar asked hesitantly. He didn't know what to say; there was so much going on in his head, he wasn't sure if he should say any or all of it.

"Where's Tris?"

"What?" Confused and hurt, Briar asked her again. "Are you all right?"

"I want to speak to Tris, please."

"Talia…"

"Briar, please." She looked up at him, and he nodded.

"Okay."

_Tris? Talia's asking for you,_ Briar said in her mind.

_Is she okay?_ Tris asked.

_I don't know. She just keeps asking for you._

_I'll be right there._ Tris looked at her foster-mothers. "Talia's awake. I'll let you know what happens."

xXx

"She's on her way," Briar said to Talia, still cradled against him.

"Thank you." She kissed his neck, all she could reach of him, and then put her head back down.

xXx

Tris raced back to Cheeseman Street, and Briar met her at the door to his room. "Go on in."

"Briar, is she all right?"

Briar closed his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. "I don't know, Tris. She doesn't seem to want to tell me anything. She doesn't even want me here while you talk."

Tris patted her brother's shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll be out soon."

xXx

Briar left the kitchen and went into his workshop through the garden. He saw the plant left on the table, and went to it. It was what he'd been working on before he'd gone up to tell Talia to go out to the market if she was bored. It was a present for her, an arrangement of roses he was growing in the shape of a heart. He didn't want her to see it until he was finished. The trick was getting all of the buds to bloom in tandem.

He hit the table with his hand, resisting the urge to knock the plant off his table. If he hadn't insisted that she get out of the house to do something, this never would have happened. If he hadn't wanted to finish her present in private, he could have been teaching her more. But he didn't even want her in the garden where she could sneak up on him too easily if she wanted to. This was all his fault. And Talia would probably never forgive him. He wouldn't want to forgive himself.

xXx

Tris entered Briar's room. Talia was looking at the door with undue concentration. When Tris came through it, Talia's gaze flickered over to her.

"Tris."

Tris came to sit on a chair next to the bed. Talia reached out and grasped her hand. "Does he hate me?"

"Briar?"

"Yes. Does he hate me for what happened?" Talia's voice was so soft that Tris almost couldn't hear her.

"No, Talia," Tris said, reaching out to touch Talia's hand with her own. "He doesn't hate you at all. He couldn't." She flinched suddenly, when she felt him slam his hand onto the table. "He's mad at himself for suggesting you go out."

Talia's face crumpled slightly. "At himself? If he's going to be mad, he should at least be mad at me."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Tris said firmly. "In fact, you did everything right."

Talia shook her head. "This is all my fault," she moaned.

"No, it isn't. You did well, Talia. I saw what happened." She pursed her lips. "Well, most of it. And you used your magic to protect yourself."

Talia looked over curiously. "I did?"

Tris nodded. "The bushes over your head. You did that, not Briar. You protected yourself from harm, Talia. There's no way Briar would fault you for that."

"Not for that. For getting into that situation in the first place."

"How is that your fault?"

"I knew him. Harold. He was my mistress' son, when I was a slave. I should have come back when I knew he were behind me. Or done something else, instead of pretend it wasn't happening. I'm a mage! This shouldn't have happened to me!"

Tris put a hand on Talia's shoulder. "But it did. And your magic helped you out of worse damage."

Talia was silent for a minute. Then she nodded. "I don't want him to feel like it's his fault."

Too late, Tris thought to herself, having seen Briar's anger for herself. "He's worried that you're not speaking to him," she finally said. "Because you asked for me instead of talking to him."

"I thought he was mad at me," Talia whispered.

"Well, he's not. Would you like to see him?"

Talia nodded. "Please."

_Briar. She wants you,_ Tris told him, and he came running.

The door from his room to the outside burst open to admit him, and he rushed to Talia's bedside. She moved over so he would have more room, and he lay next to her and put his arms around her.

Tris got up and left the room quietly, leaving them to their discussions.

"I'm sorry," Talia said.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Briar replied sincerely. "I should be sorry."

"We're probably going to keep arguing about this forever if we don't stop now, because you really have nothing to be sorry for," Talia said.

Briar smiled a little. "I still am."

"You shouldn't be." She yawned, though she tried not to.

"You should sleep," Briar said, caressing her cheek.

"Don't leave," she said as her eyes drifted closed.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he whispered.

xXx

Talia spent the next twelve hours sleeping. She awoke with the sun, as she usually did, and found Briar's arms still around her. She looked at him, and saw his eyes slit open. "Good morning," she said softly.

His arms tightened a little around her. "Good morning. Are you feeling any differently today?"

She pursed her lips and thought about it. "I think I feel better."

Briar smiled. "I'm glad."

"I wanted to talk to you yesterday, but I got so tired," Talia said, and his eyes opened wider.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about what happened. I don't want you to feel like it's your fault, because it's not."

"Talia, if I hadn't suggested you go out…"

"No! Let me finish." She covered his mouth with her palm. "This isn't your fault. I want you to know that. I knew him. He was my mistress' son, when I was a slave. He used to flirt with everyone, but especially with me. I always turned him down. I think that made him mad."

"How did you end up in the pens?" Briar asked. His voice was muffled through Talia's palm, but she still heard him.

"I didn't tell you that?" She took her hand off of his mouth.

"No. We were interrupted before I could ask."

"Oh. My mistress' son? He's around your age, maybe a year or so younger. He liked to make advances on the help, like I said. He went away when I was fourteen, about a year after I was taken from the streets, and came back right after my birthday this year. When he saw me, he started watching me. Then he would try to touch me or kiss me. The other servants watched out for me, so he was interrupted most of the time."

She shrugged. "When my mistress heard about it, she got very angry, and started yelling and throwing things at her son. When she sent me off to the pens, she told me that she was ashamed her son could be attracted to a slave. Someone so far beneath him I hardly existed. Even if I was pretty, she said. So I left. I didn't like it there anyway."

"Is it my turn to talk now?" Briar asked after a few minutes of silence. Talia nodded. "I want you to know that if you need me, I'll be there to protect you with everything I have and everything I am." He made sure she was looking into his eyes when he said this. "Any time you need me, I'll be there. I promise."

Talia smiled tremulously and tried not to let the tears of gratitude in her eyes fall to her cheeks. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in his scent.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review! Love to all, Sarah  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here's chapter 11. Thanks to Kate of Carlay and KrisEleven for all their help! If you haven't already, go check out my new oneshot called **Replacing the Rogue**. Thanks.**

**Chapter 11**

When she had calmed down, Talia looked up at him. Briar was glad to see that the haunted emptiness in her eyes was gone, and they were twinkling again. "What chores do I need to do today?" she asked. "Weeding?"

Briar's brow furrowed as he frowned. "You're not doing anything today," he said.

"Briar, there are things that need to be done in the garden, and I still have lessons," she reminded him.

"Not today," Briar insisted. "Today you rest."

"It will help keep my mind off things," Talia said quietly, looking up at him through her lashes. She didn't want to manipulate him like this, but she knew that he would keep her in bed all day if he could, and she didn't ever want to be bored again.

She heard his sigh and knew she had won. "There's always weeding to do," he conceded.

Talia smiled and threw the covers back. "I'll go change and be right down," she told him, and kissed his cheek. She stood and experienced a slight wave of dizziness.

"Are you okay?" Briar asked, reaching out to steady her. "I think you should lie back down."

"No. I'm getting up and performing my duties," Talia said resolutely, and gently took her arm out of his grasp. "I'll meet you in the garden."

She walked slowly out of Briar's room, aware that he was watching her every move. The second she got into the hallway, she saw Sandry coming toward her. "Talia! You're up!"

"You sound surprised," Talia said, leaning against the wall for momentary support.

"Only because I thought Briar would keep you in bed all day." She frowned. "I didn't mean that the way it came out."

Talia smiled. "I know what you meant. He tried, but I know I have chores to do. I'm still a student, after all."

"Maybe you should stay in bed, just for today. Get your strength back," Sandry suggested.

"Sandry, think of what you'd do in her situation," Daja said, coming down the stairs. "You wouldn't want to be holed up in bed, either."

Sandry made a face. "That's true, I suppose." She turned back to Talia. "Just go easy for today, please?"

Talia nodded. "I have the feeling Briar will be watching me closely." She turned to go up the steps and leaned on the railing for support. Her knees still seemed weak, but at least that was the most serious of her worries.

She dragged herself up the steps and saw Tris waiting at the top. "Good morning," Tris said.

"Good morning," Talia replied as she heaved herself up the last few steps. She let herself sit on the top step for a second.

"Legs a little weak?" Tris asked, coming to sit next to Talia.

"A little," Talia replied truthfully.

"Do you want a little help getting to your room and getting changed? Going down stairs is always easier than going up."

"Yes, please." Tris stood up and pulled Talia up after her, a surprisingly easy feat. Tris supported the younger woman all the way into her room. The little redhead helped her friend change into an old dress she used for working in the garden, and then helped her out to the stairs.

"I think I have it from here," Talia said. She looked at the ground as she said, "Thank you, Tris."

"For?"

"For not making a big deal out of me being out of bed."

Tris shrugged. "I'd have done the same thing," she said, and went up the stairs to her own room.

Talia sighed and started the slow descent of the stairs. Tris was right, down was easier than up. She finally made it down in one piece, and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

She made her way back to the garden and went outside through the kitchen, leaving the door open. Briar was standing there, waiting for her with his arms crossed. "Meditation first," he said, and disappeared into the workshop.

He was mad. She could tell. Mad at whom, though, she didn't know. It was probably her for wanting to get out of bed.

She sat to one side of the inside of the ward and waited for Briar to close it. He stepped inside and called up the ward, and then sat down across from her. "Today I want you to work on putting all your magic into something small. Taking the fullness of it and pulling it in. The first time I did it, I imagined a many-petaled rose."

While Talia breathed in for seven counts, held it for seven, and then released the breath for seven counts according to Briar's direction, she thought of what she could envision to fit her magic into, and she didn't notice when Briar stopped counting.

Eventually, she imagined folding her magic in on itself, forming the shape of a thorn. She managed to keep all of her magic inside, and it stayed there, to her pleasure and relief. When Briar told her she could open her eyes, she did, and instantly felt the pains in her body, like she was all scrunched up for hours on end.

Briar took the ward down and then helped Talia up. She glanced around the room and then left, going out into the garden. She sank down to her knees and began pulling weeds. She sighed happily once her hands got a bit dirty. This was what she needed, not a day in bed.

"Are you all right?" Briar asked her as he knelt next to her to start pulling weeds.

"Fine. I'm feeling much better. Although I feel a little achy from the lesson."

"So did we," Briar replied.

"What were you like as students?" Talia wondered aloud, and Briar laughed.

"Oh, we were horrible. Good students, but horrible. At first we didn't like each other because we were from all different backgrounds. But then we got used to each other, and the earthquake happened, and we were connected." He told Talia stories from his student years, including how he got his _shakkan_.

"So you stole it from a greenhouse?" Talia asked, turning to look at him with surprise.

Briar nodded and laughed. "And when Dedicate Crane chased me, Sandry got in his face and got all on her nobleness and he eventually went away." He paused in his weed-pulling. "Are you ready to meet Duke Vedris tomorrow?"

Talia took a breath and sat back on her heels. "I still don't think I should meet him. I mean, he's the ruler of this kingdom. I'm just…I don't even know what I am."

"A student," Briar suggested. "A woman?"

"A commoner," Talia said finally. "It's just strange, is all."

"You'll like him, I think. We all do, and it's difficult to find someone that we all like." He smiled then, thinking of her. They all liked her.

_What's not to like?_ Sandry asked in his mind, having heard his question.

_It's difficult to not like someone who makes themselves so likeable_, Daja intoned.

Tris didn't respond for a moment. It seemed like she was thinking. _It's hard not to like someone who Briar likes so much, and who likes him so much_, she finally said.

Sandry and Daja agreed with that sentiment. Briar smiled. _Don't get all weepy on me, Coppercurls._

_Who says I'm weepy? I'm only telling the truth, is all._ She gave a mental shrug._ We want you to be happy, so what makes you happy makes us happy._

Sandry and Daja agreed with that, too. Briar didn't quite know what to say to that. _Don't say anything,_ Tris advised dryly. _You'd probably ruin the moment._

xXx

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Briar expected Talia to stay up in her room that night. Expected it, but didn't like it. He would far rather her be in his room so he could take care of her.

When night fell, Briar and Talia were still in the garden weeding. They'd only taken breaks for meals and a drink or two when it got hot. They were sweating from being in the sun all day, but being around the plants had kept them happy and relatively sane.

They stood up and brushed off their clothes, and then looked at each other. It seemed like neither knew what to say to the other for the first time since they'd met.

They both looked up, relieved, when Sandry called out Talia's name. She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Can I speak with you a moment?" she asked.

Talia sent a glance at Briar and then went. Sandry led her upstairs to Talia's own room. "I made you a new dress for tomorrow," she said on the way. "To meet my uncle." She looked down and sighed. "I know you said that you didn't like dresses, but I thought that, for meeting him…" She let her thought trail off when they entered Talia's room.

The dress was laying on the bed. It was a pretty pale blue color that went well with Talia's fair skin and hair. "It's spelled like your other things against dirt and tears and everything," Sandry said.

"Thank you so much, my lady," Talia said, looking up finally from the dress. "It's beautiful. I love it." Her voice was sincere, and Sandry knew she was telling the truth.

"Please, call me Sandry," she said, laying a hand on Talia's arm.

"Okay. Thank you, Sandry."

"It was my pleasure. My uncle is very much looking forward to meeting you tomorrow, Talia. He's interested to see the woman who captured Briar's interest."

Talia blushed and looked down at the floor. Sandry smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, Talia." She left the room quietly.

Talia smoothed a hand over the dress and sighed softly. It was the prettiest dress she'd ever owned. She carefully hung it in the wardrobe and went downstairs to Briar's room. The door was closed, so she knocked, not wanting to interrupt him if he was doing something.

"Who is it?" his voice called out.

"Talia," she replied. The door was wrenched open immediately.

Briar stood aside for her to enter the room. "I thought you would stay in your own room tonight," he said softly.

Talia frowned. "Why?"

Briar looked down at the floor. "I didn't think you'd want…I thought you would want to sleep alone."

Talia was still frowning at him when he glanced up. "Because of what happened yesterday," he elaborated.

"Oh. Briar, I still want to be with you even if we don't…" Her voice trailed off as a flush crossed her cheekbones. "Besides, I'm a little afraid of the nightmares."

Briar reached out to brush her cheek with his knuckles. "I'll be here if you have one," he murmured softly. He knew the power of nightmares. He'd suffered from them for a long time, after seeing things in war that he never wanted to see again. It had taken him a long time to get over them, and they were still a problem sometimes, when he was particularly unsettled. He wanted to be there for Talia, to soothe her pain and keep the nightmares from plaguing her the way he'd been plagued.

**A/N: Sneak peek for reviewers, and please go check out my new oneshot! Thanks bunches and much love, Sarah**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get this up! No excuses here. :D Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

Talia awoke the next morning as the sun rose. She shook Briar's shoulder slightly, and he opened his eyes with a bit of effort.

"What?"

"What time are we going to meet Duke Vedris?" Talia asked.

"I don't know." He yawned. "I'll ask." _Sandry! What time are we expected?_ he asked her, and felt a little jolt of satisfaction when his voice in her head woke her up.

_Why are you awake now?_ she asked tightly.

_Talia's awake. She just asked me what time we're meeting His Grace,_ Briar explained.

_Three hours before midday,_ Sandry replied. _Now let me get some sleep!_

Briar reported the news to Talia, who nodded. "Go back to sleep," he told her, but she laughed.

"I don't sleep past sunrise," she said.

"Then stay in bed, keep your mouth closed, and close your eyes," Briar said, closing his own.

Predictably, Talia didn't listen, and got out of bed. "I'm going to go bathe," she said. "And then eat breakfast and change into my new dress. By then it should be time to go."

She walked out, looking more steady on her feet than she had the day before. Briar was glad for that, and glad she looked like herself again. Being with the plants yesterday had helped her, he knew, like it always helped him.

xXx

As they rode to Duke's Citadel later that morning, Tris, Daja and Briar told Talia stories of Duke Vedris in the ten or so years that they'd known him. The picture they painted was of a man who loved his subjects and his kingdom, and who was determined to do right by them.

It startled Talia when they told her that recently Duke Vedris had given the edict that Sandry would succeed him as ruler of Emelan instead of one of his own sons. But Talia supposed that was his way of continuing to do right by his subjects when he was gone.

They arrived at the Citadel and saw Sandry standing near the doors to the inside. "Oh, good, you're on time," she said happily. "Uncle is waiting in the parlor. I'll take you."

She started off through the long hallways, her sisters on either side of her, chatting lightly while Briar and Talia followed behind. When they arrived at one set of double doors, Sandry stopped. "Here we are. Are you ready, Talia?" she asked.

Talia raised an eyebrow. "Let's just get it over with," she replied.

Sandry grinned and opened the doors. She glided in with Daja on one side and Tris on the other. Talia and Briar were still walking behind them. "Uncle, this is Talia," Sandry introduced as she stepped aside to reveal Talia.

Duke Vedris IV took one look at the girl and his jaw dropped. "Oh, my. Felicity." His hand crept to his heart and he continued to stare at Talia.

"Uncle?" Sandry asked. She looked from her uncle to Talia, much as the others were doing. It seemed as though they all thought something might be wrong with Duke Vedris. She started to leave the room, calling for Baron Erdogun, her uncle's steward.

"My dear, you're the spitting image of your mother," Vedris breathed softly, eyes still wide on Talia's shocked face.

"Who are you?" Briar asked Talia, startled by this pronouncement.

Talia shrugged. "I have no idea," she said truthfully.

"Tell me another."

"I was in the slave pens for a month before you bought me. Before that, I was a slave for another family. I'd been with them five years. I don't know anything about who I am or where I came from. My first memories were sleeping in alleys and stealing food. I had to teach myself to survive out there."

She shook her head. "I always thought my mother was homeless, like me."

Vedris cleared his throat. "She wasn't."

Talia looked at him and then back at Briar. "I really have no idea, Briar. I wouldn't lie to you."

Briar frowned and strode out of the room. Talia stared after him. "He shut us out," Sandry said after a few seconds. "He hasn't done that since before we were in Namorn." She sounded upset.

They looked over at Talia, who had covered her mouth with her hand. It didn't hide her tears, however, or her anger. She ran from the room outside to the vines, knowing the one person Briar would go to. She thrust her hands in, pushed her magic through the plants and called out, _Rosethorn!_

_Talia?_ came the reply a few moments later. _What's wrong?_

_It's Briar._

_What's wrong with him now?_ Rosethorn asked. It seemed like she was worried and upset at the same time.

Quickly, Talia told Briar's old teacher what had happened at the palace. Rosethorn was quiet for a few minutes. _He just arrived here,_ she said finally.

_Can I come? I have a few things I need to say to him._

A pause, and then _Let me speak to him first. He seems upset._

_Talia, let go of the vines!_ Briar's voice barked. _Shame on you both! I only taught you this way of speaking to Rosethorn in case there was an emergency. And she's my student, Rosethorn, not yours._

_Boy, enough,_ Rosethorn's sharp voice said. _You left her there?_

_I'm not having this conversation in her presence,_ Briar said, and then he was gone.

Talia sank against the ivy and let out a half-sob. _Talia, calm down. I'll send him to you once I straighten him out,_ Rosethorn said, and then was gone.

Sandry came outside a few minutes later. "Talia!" she called, and ran to where the younger woman was sitting. "Talia, my uncle would like to speak with you."

"Tell him I don't want to know who my mother is. Not if it means Briar will hate me. _Hamot,_" she muttered under her breath. Sandry looked taken aback at Talia's use of the Trader word for idiot.

"You know Tradertalk?"

Talia looked up, confused. "I grew up on the streets. I picked up a little. You know it?" Then she shook her head, realizing. "Daja."

"Briar doesn't hate you," Tris said quietly as she walked up. "I know him. There's no possibility that he hates you."

"Then why leave? Why won't he believe me?"

The girls looked at each other, wondering how much to reveal. "Briar is a complicated kid," Tris said, using the slang for child, though Briar wasn't a child any longer. "We've known him half our lives, and if we couldn't speak with him in our minds, we would hardly know anything."

Sandry held out a hand. "Come. My uncle wants to speak to you. I don't think it's about your mother. It may be about Briar."

Talia looked at Sandry's hand. The older woman smiled gently. "Who you are doesn't change who you were an hour ago, Talia. And it's never mattered to us. Any of us. Come."

Talia put her hand in Sandry's and the mage helped her stand. Sandry and Tris accompanied her back to where Duke Vedris and Daja were still waiting.

"He's on his way back," Tris said suddenly. "He just opened up so he could tell me that."

"Talia, my dear, I didn't mean for this to happen," Vedris said. "I apologize for my lack of insight. I should have talked to my niece before consulting you."

"Your Grace, please. You have nothing to apologize for," Talia said, trying to be gracious. After all the things the mages had said about the man, it was hard for her to believe that he would willingly and knowingly say something that would make everyone upset.

"But I do. I know Briar as well as I know the girls, and I should have known his reaction to my words. It was a moment of stupidity, and I regret it most heartily."

"Talia," Briar's voice said from the doorway. "Can I have a word?"

Talia looked at him for a second, and he saw the hurt he'd caused her by running away, but was surprised to see that she looked angry, too. "Please?" he asked.

_Leave her alone,_ Sandry yelled into his mind, and glared at him.

_You hurt her,_ Daja said. _Badly._

_Let me just talk to her,_ Briar said, looking pleadingly at his friends. He looked at Tris last. _Coppercurls? Back me up?_

_You made her cry, Briar,_ Tris told him, shrugging. _And speak Tradertalk. She called you a _hamot.

_I was upset, too!_ Briar replied.

_That's no excuse._

Briar didn't say anything else, just looked at his sisters for a second. "Go on, Talia." Briar's head whipped around and he saw that it was Duke Vedris who had spoken. "You two may use my gardens."

Talia went to Briar's side and he held out a hand. Talia took it cautiously and he led her back to Vedris's garden. "Talia, I'm sorry," Briar said as soon as they got outside. He crushed her in a hug and held her tightly. "I was surprised that he recognized you."

"I wouldn't lie to you, Briar. I don't know who he thinks I am. All I know is that I was a street rat from the time I was five until I got captured and forced into slavery. Then I was a slave until you and the others bought me."

"I know you wouldn't lie to me. I'm sorry." He continued to hold her, trying to breathe evenly, though his heart was still pounding in his chest. When it quieted, he let his grip on Talia loosen a little. He pulled back to look in her eyes.

There was still a bit of sadness in them, and a lot of anger, but Briar could also see worry mixed with curiosity. Slowly, he let out a breath. "I didn't even want to think of the possibility that you knew more than you were telling us," he said quietly. "I don't even know what was running through my head when I walked out of here."

"You closed your sisters out of your head," Talia said softly.

"I could hear their anger before I left. It made me angrier that they believed you, and then guilty because I knew I should have believed you, too." He sighed, a rush of air. "Did you find out anything?"

"We were too preoccupied with you being gone," Talia murmured.

_And she thought you'd hate her,_ Sandry said.

_Quit eavesdropping,_ Briar retorted, but saw the truth in Talia's eyes. "If you want to know, you should find out who she is," he said quietly.

Suddenly, the connections with his sisters seemed to vibrate almost audibly in Briar's mind. They all seemed shocked out of their wits. _What happened?_ Briar asked, knowing it wasn't his words that had disturbed them.

None of them replied. They were still speechless. "What's wrong?" Talia asked, seeing the worry on Briar's face.

Briar shook his head. "I don't know. They won't tell me."

xXx

"She's _what_?! Sandry shrieked, out of surprise rather than anger.

"Sandry," Daja said to calm her sister, though she, too, was reeling.

"I'll admit, this is a rather interesting development," Tris remarked thoughtfully. Then, she shook her head thoughtfully. "I wonder what their reactions will be."

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Sorry for the cliffy. I'll try to update tomorrow, so it won't be too long between updates again!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 13**

Briar and Talia walked slowly back to the parlor. The others were still in there, though they looked composed now. "Is everything settled?" Vedris asked.

Briar nodded. "Briar, can we speak to you for a moment?" Sandry asked.

"Can it wait?" Briar asked.

"Briar," Tris said. She looked at him, and he didn't need a mind connection with her to know that he would go talk to them, whether it be by his own power or by theirs.

"Okay. Talia, will you be all right?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. Briar's eyes flicked to Duke Vedris and saw an identical expression on the man's face. His brow wrinkled for a moment as he thought, and then flattened out again. He and the girls left the room.

Talia looked down at the floor; she didn't quite know what to say to the ruler of Emelan. "You seem like a good match for him," Vedris said after a second. "I've known him for quite some time, and I've never met any of the ladies he…"

"Dallied with?" Talia finished, and then remembered who she was talking to. She glanced up to see if he was offended, but he was grinning. "Pardon me Your Grace."

He laughed. "Don't be sorry. You should speak your mind. That was the expression I was going for, even if the phrasing was different." Talia blushed and looked back down at her hands.

"Who is she?" Talia asked abruptly and looked out the window instead of at Vedris.

"You want to know now?" Vedris asked calmly. The change in topic didn't surprise him.

"Yes, Your Grace." Talia turned back to the duke and he saw the seriousness in her gaze. "I would very much like to know who my mother is."

Vedris inclined his head. "Very well. She's a noble. You look very much like her, Talia." He waited a minute, but Talia's gaze never wavered. "About fifteen years ago, I received word that the daughter of one of my nieces had been kidnapped."

"Nieces?"

Vedris nodded. "Sandry's father had a younger sister. Felicity. She'd run off to get married without a word to any of her family, but she was still my niece, you understand." Talia nodded, and Vedris continued. "We didn't hear from her very often. She sent few messages, but she did tell us when she learned she was pregnant, and after the baby was born, she told us that she had given birth to a beautiful baby girl that she named Natalia. I saw the child only once and was completely enchanted."

Talia stared up at the Duke. She couldn't believe this. Great-niece to Duke Vedris IV? Impossible. He had to be mistaken.

Vedris wasn't finished. "Three years after we learned of Natalia's birth, I received an urgent message from Felicity, alerting me to the young child's kidnap. It seems that her maid ran off with her. I did what I could for her, as did the rest of the family, but the child was never found."

He glanced briefly out the window, and then back to Talia. "Everyone assumed that, after a few years, the child was dead. Felicity and her husband both fell into a depression when their daughter wasn't found right away." He trailed off.

"Are they…dead?" Talia asked after a few moments.

Vedris shook himself, and then smiled sadly. "They both passed on about three years ago, unfortunately. They were very ill after their child went missing, you see. They had lost the will to live, even for each other."

"So you don't know for a fact that I'm the missing child," Talia said slowly after a few seconds.

Vedris slowly stood up. "Come with me," he said, and left the room. Talia followed him down to another part of the Duke's Citadel and into a room covered in portraits. He led her down a wall to one of the portraits near the end of the room. "You're about eighteen, correct?" he asked, stopping in front of a nearly life-sized portrait. It was in a sort of alcove, hidden unless you were looking for it. The portrait had obviously been the cause of some pain over the years.

Talia nodded and looked at the painting curiously. "Yes, Your Grace."

"This is Felicity when she was about your age," he said, gesturing up to the painting.

Talia looked at it and studied the woman in the picture. She had very pale blonde hair and slightly darker brows that were barely visible against her creamy pale skin. That skin made her eyes seem darker blue in color than they probably were. She was dressed simply but well, as was the man standing beside her chair. He looked a lot like Sandry, mostly in the expression. His eyes seemed to be twinkling and his expression seemed to have humor as well as seriousness.

"My niece and nephew, just before my niece ran away," Vedris commented. "You look exactly like her, Talia. There is no doubt in my mind of who you are, my dear." He took one of her hands and brought it up to kiss her knuckles. "I'll give you a while. Welcome home, child."

He left the room, but Talia didn't notice. She continued to stare up at the portrait of her mother. It felt as if she were glancing in a mirror. She didn't know how long she'd been there, when suddenly she felt a light touch on her back.

"Briar," she murmured, knowing it was him even though he hadn't made a sound. He didn't say anything but, when he saw her tears, he kissed them away gently, drawing her into his arms.

"What did he say?"

Talia gestured toward the painting. "My mother and Sandry's father were brother and sister."

Briar looked at the painting and then at Talia. "You look exactly alike. When are you going to see her?"

"I'm not. She's dead."

"So you're Duke Vedris's niece, like Sandry is," Briar said.

"It looks that way," Talia replied.

"Are you going to move in here with them? I mean, now that you have family." He seemed nervous. Talia got more and more confused; Briar never got nervous.

"Do you want me to move in with them?" Suddenly, she got annoyed.

"Sandry would love it."

"That wasn't my question." She looked up into his face, but he just looked composed. "Do you want me to move here with them or not?"

"I want you to do what makes you happy," Briar said, and Talia could tell that he was just trying to do what he thought was best. She didn't like it one bit.

"If you don't want me at the house anymore, fine. Just tell me," she said, hoping to goad him into saying something he meant.

"I want you to be happy. It doesn't matter what I want, as long as you're happy." He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.

Talia shook her head and left him standing there. She didn't have anything to say to him. He called out after her, but she ignored him. She found Sandry waiting for her near the gardens.

Sandry immediately enveloped her in a crushing embrace. "Cousin," she said softly. "Uncle wanted me to invite you to live with us. I told him you probably wouldn't want to leave Briar, but—"

Talia cut her off. "I would love to, thank you."

Sandry looked startled. "You would?"

Talia tried a smile and found it persuasive. "I would."

"Oh. Is there anything you need from Cheeseman Street?"

"No, nothing."

"I see." Sandry bit her lip and tried not to look shocked. "And…Briar?"

Talia had been looking out the window. Now, when she turned to look at Sandry, her blue eyes glinted darkly and her mouth tightened at the corners. "Doesn't figure into this decision."

_Briar, what happened?_ Sandry shrieked into his head. She was still looking into Talia's eyes, and it was almost like a spell she couldn't break.

_What's going on?_ Daja asked calmly.

_Briar? Why isn't Talia staying with us?_ Tris asked. Her voice was more hesitant than her sisters.

Briar's only reply was to close them out of his head.

Talia finally looked away from Sandry. "Oh," Sandry whispered, and felt tears gather in her eyes.

"I'm going to go speak with Rosethorn," Talia said.

"May I come?" Sandry asked softly. When Talia trained her eyes on the other woman, Sandry swallowed hard and tripped over her own tongue in her haste to explain this. "I need to speak with Lark about a working."

Talia nodded once, and then turned away. "I'll get everything ready," Sandry said. "I'll get you when we're ready." She hurried off and told the first footman she found to ready her horse and Talia's horse.

She rushed back to the place Briar had last been. He was still standing in front of the painting of her father and Talia's mother. "Briar!"

He turned to look at her, and his whole expression was empty. She'd never seen him like this before. Beneath the emptiness, she saw pain and hurt and disbelief. "You love her, don't you," Tris said from behind Sandry.

Slowly, Briar's gaze switched from Sandry to Tris. Tris nodded sagely. "I thought so."

"Why don't you go after her?" Sandry asked.

"He's too stubborn," Daja put in quietly. She leaned on her staff as she surveyed her brother.

Briar knew they were trying to make him lash out, do something, but he didn't have it in him anymore. Not without Talia. He blinked at them once and then walked out of the gallery.

"Wow," Daja said.

"That's an understatement," Tris muttered.

"Lady Sandrilene, the horses you requested are ready," a footman said, cautious about interrupting.

"Thank you," Sandry said. She turned back to her sisters. "Talia and I are going to Discipline. Well, I'm accompanying her, and she's going to see Rosethorn."

"To ask Rosethorn to be her teacher," Tris guessed, pursing her lips.

"Is Briar closed off to you two, also?" Daja asked. Tris and Sandry nodded. "Thought so. Well, we'll see what happens in the next couple of days."

"I've got to go," Sandry said, and ran off. She found Talia in the same place she left her. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Talia nodded brusquely and followed Sandry down to where the horses were waiting. They mounted and started riding off. "Are you just going with me because you think I need someone to watch over me?" Talia asked bluntly after they got moving. "Or because you think I'll do something drastic?"

Sandry raised her eyebrows and looked at the other girl. "Is that what you think of me?"

Talia shrugged. They rode the rest of the way to Discipline Cottage in complete silence. They dismounted at the front and walked through the gate together. "Lark? Rosethorn?" Sandry called.

"Sandry? What are you doing here? I thought you were introducing Talia to your uncle. Oh, Talia. It's a…pleasure." Lark's voice slowed as she spoke when she saw Talia's set face and Sandry's worried expression. "Is everything all right?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Talia asked, attempting the same sweetly innocent smile she'd given this woman only a few days before.

"Are you here to see Rosethorn?"

Talia nodded. "Please."

"You go on out to her garden. I'm sure she's in her workshop." Talia went outside, leaving Sandry and Lark staring after her. "What happened? Last I knew, Briar was heading back to the Citadel to apologize to her."

"We don't know. Briar won't tell us, and he's shut us all out of his head. And Talia won't give it up. She's coming to live at the Citadel." Shaking her head, Sandry backtracked and told Lark the whole story. At least, what she knew of it.

When she finished, Lark sat down heavily. "Oh, my. This doesn't look good."

"You're telling me," Sandry said, sitting down next to her old teacher.

xXx

"Let me get this straight. You want me to be your teacher? Even though you're living in the same house as a plant mage?" Rosethorn asked, incredulous.

Talia's eyes locked onto Rosethorn's. "I live at Duke's Citadel now," she said.

Rosethorn's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Interesting. Still, why not continue your lessons with Briar?"

"That situation wasn't working," Talia said, eyes flat. "For either of us."

Rosethorn stared at Talia, knowing that the girl was trying, if unconsciously, to intimidate her. Well, it took a lot more to intimidate Rosethorn than the glare of an eighteen year old girl.

"Get to weeding," she snapped, and walked inside. She saw Sandry and Lark sitting down at the kitchen table. "Sandrilene fa Toren, what is going on between her and the boy?" she asked.

"Don't snap at Sandry, Rosie," Lark said. "It's not her fault."

"Well, I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now."

Sandry hurriedly explained everything, and when she'd caught up, Rosethorn sank onto the bench. "She's your cousin?"

Sandry nodded. "I saw the portrait. There's no possibility that Uncle was wrong."

"Well, I'll teach her for now, but something better be done about her and Briar. There's no way either of them are happy with this, no matter what they say."

**A/N: I hope you liked it, please review and tell me things I can fix and what you liked or didn't like! Love to all.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to Kate of Carlay and KrisEleven for all the hard work they put into this story.**

**Chapter 14**

The next few weeks passed by so slowly that everyone thought they would die. Talia was making daily treks to Discipline to have Rosethorn teach her. Sandry came along most days, but Talia was never good company anymore. She was always angry or just…empty.

Sandry had tried to talk sense into Talia after the first dreadful week had gone by, but Talia had stared her down until Sandry relented and left the room, muttering all the way about stupid girls who wouldn't come to their senses. It made Talia feel horrible afterwards, but she couldn't summon up enough remorse to apologize.

Even Duke Vedris had tried to talk to her, not even anything about Briar, but she wasn't interested. She brushed him off as politely as she could and stayed in her room when she wasn't at lessons or doing chores in Rosethorn's garden.

Briar, too, spent a lot of time angry. His _shakkan_ calmed him some, but only for a little while at a time, and it never fully took away the anger.

Tris, Daja and Sandry spent a lot of time together, trying to figure out something. But they still didn't know what had caused this rift in the first place, so they felt like they were trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.

Finally, Tris decided to go to Duke's Citadel and find out once and for all what had happened the day Talia found out about her mother.

Talia was in the room Sandry had set up for her. "Hi, Talia," Tris said. She was standing in the doorway, but she had no intention of not coming in.

"Tris. I haven't seen you in a while," Talia replied, waving the redhead in. Tris sat down in a chair across from Talia. "How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. What about you?"

"Me? I've never been better."

Tris rolled her eyes and let out a humorless laugh. "Both of you are in complete denial of everything. You really don't know what this did to him, do you?" Tris asked.

"Ah, the reason you're here," Talia spat in Tris's direction.

"That's not the reason I'm here," Tris said. "I'm here because I'm your friend! Or, I thought I was."

"You're Briar's friend."

"Yes, but I can't be yours, too?"

"Not if you're trying to get me to come back."

"I'm trying to tell you how things are!" Tris nearly yelled it. "None of us have ever seen Briar like this! It's like he doesn't exist. Not without you."

"He should find someone else."

Tris clenched her hands into fists. "That's just the point. If you were anyone else, he would have. He hasn't slept with anyone but you since the second he first saw you in my head! You managed to capture him and you didn't even know it yet."

"It's difficult to capture someone who doesn't want to be captured," Talia returned.

"You're right. Which is why it's so amazing that you managed it. I'm not here to tell you to go see him, I'm just here to tell you that he hasn't been the same since you left. He's been empty, he won't let any of us in his head, barely talks to us, hardly even talks to Rosethorn."

Talia didn't look at her friend when she replied. "I don't know what you want me to do, Tris."

"What happened that day? Neither of you will tell any of us."

Talia sighed. "He asked me if I was going to move in here."

"What did you tell him?"

"I asked if he wanted me to. He said he wanted me to be happy. He told me that it didn't matter what he wanted, as long as I was happy." She let out a frustrated noise. "It did matter what he wanted. He as much as said that he didn't want me to stay with him."

"You and he are two of a kind, you know that?" Tris stood up and started pacing. "Neither of you wants to admit you're wrong! I've had enough of it! Let me know when you want to be Talia again, and I'll come visit." She looked down at Talia, still sitting, and shook her head. "I want to be your friend, but I can only do that if you let me."

Talia didn't reply, and Tris stomped out.

xXx

The next day when Sandry came to Cheeseman Street, Tris pulled her into Daja's forge. "We have to talk," Tris said when she had closed the door behind them.

"About?"

"Talia and Briar."

"What can we do? I've already tried talking to her," Sandry said.

"So have I," Tris admitted. "But I did finally get the full story out of her yesterday." She told the others what she'd learned, and when she was finished, she noticed that Daja was smiling. "What?"

"I have a plan," Daja said, and her grin turned wicked as she explained. "Although we may need Rosethorn's help."

"Which she'll give," Sandry said confidently. "Lark told me that Rosethorn's been angry practically since Talia and I showed up there three weeks ago. Apparently, Rosethorn is really mad that Talia and Briar aren't even speaking, and that she's been put in the middle."

"She has a responsibility to teach Talia, but Briar's like a son to her," Tris said, understanding.

"And she doesn't like it," Daja added. "I'll bet she doesn't like it just enough for her to be eager to help."

xXx

As it happened, she was.

She was happy to be included in the fun, especially if it meant that her former student would be back to himself, and that he would be teaching Talia again.

"So, you know what to do?" Sandry asked Rosethorn just before she left Discipline Cottage about a week later.

Rosethorn scoffed. "Of course I know what to do. I lived with you four for years, didn't I? I know how to be sneaky."

Sandry laughed. "Okay. Good luck." She left the cottage and ran to Frostpine's forge, where her horses and escort were waiting with Daja.

"Everything ready?" Sandry asked.

Daja nodded. "We just need Tris, and then everything's set."

Just then, Tris came up, smiling widely. "Everything's ready," she said.

Sandry rubbed her hands together. "Let the game begin."

xXx

"Talia, you can stop for today," Rosethorn said. "I need a favor from you."

Talia stood from the flower bed she was weeding. It was the last one in the garden that she hadn't done at all, and after it was done, she was starting from the beginning again. "What is it?" she asked Rosethorn, dusting off her hands and her breeches, which were covered in dirt.

"I need you to take this back to Duke's Citadel with you," Rosethorn said, handing Talia a basket with a cloth covering it. "It's for Sandry. She hasn't been around the last couple of days for Lark to give it to her."

"So you're letting me leave early because I have to give Sandry something from Lark?" Talia asked, frowning.

"It's not early. It's almost dark," Rosethorn pointed out. Talia looked up and then sighed.

"Oh. I guess I lost track of time." She took the basket from Rosethorn. "I'll make sure she gets it. I'll see you tomorrow, Rosethorn."

She started out the fence and didn't see Rosethorn's wicked grin.

xXx

"Briar, can you do me a favor?" Tris asked.

Briar was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, staring at the wall. He looked over at Tris. "What's the favor?"

"I need to get this to Sandry, but she hasn't been here in a couple of days, and Niko wants me to go meet him right now." Briar hesitated. "Please, Briar? I'd ask Daja to do it, but she's out with Frostpine."

Briar sighed and stood. "Fine. She at the Citadel?"

Tris nodded. "Thank you, Briar."

He glared at her and left the house, not seeing when she ran to the window and watched him go, grinning like a maniac.

xXx

Talia was halfway to Duke's Citadel when she felt someone grab her from behind and cover her mouth with their hand. "The calmer you are, the sooner this will be over," a voice said in her ear.

xXx

Briar was walking through the streets on the way to the Citadel when he saw Talia being held by a man. His hand was over her mouth, and he held her a few inches off the ground so she couldn't get away.

He looked closer and saw that the man was missing an eye. _Tris! Daja! Sandry! What is this supposed to be?!_

His sisters looked through his eyes, and a collective gasp went up. _That wasn't supposed to happen,_ Sandry wailed.

_What are you talking about?_ Briar demanded.

_We were trying to get you together again_, Daja explained.

_You were supposed to run into each other and we'd lock you into a room together until you spoke,_ Sandry went on.

_That's the man who tried to rape her,_ Tris muttered.

Briar jumped into action and ran after Talia.

xXx

Talia's first thought when the blindfold was placed over her eyes was that she knew the voice of her kidnapper. It was male, and very familiar, but she couldn't quite place it in her panic.

She was picked up and thrown over a strong shoulder, and the person carrying her started moving. She was frozen in place, and couldn't seem to move to try and fight back.

Suddenly she was carefully placed on the ground. "Sit," her kidnapper said, and forced Talia down with a hand on her shoulder.

She heard a door close heavily and then reached up with one hand to take the blindfold off. She was sitting on the dirty floor of a room that seemed to be in an inn.

xXx

Briar followed Talia and her abductor across town to a seedy inn. No one seemed to worry about the man carrying a female over his shoulder. "A bit drunk," he said to the innkeeper, who only grinned.

Briar snuck up the stairs and watched as the man sat Talia on the floor and back out of the room. Briar kept himself unseen when the other man, Harold, Talia had called him, walked back down the hall and down the stairs to the bar.

He crept to the room and picked the lock quickly. "Talia?" he asked when the door swung open.

She jerked in response, knowing his voice. "Briar?"

He leaned forward, out of the shadows, slowly. "Yes, it's me."

"You had me kidnapped?!" Talia exclaimed, scrambling up to her feet.

Briar merely raised an eyebrow in her direction. "When I could have just come to the Citadel? Honestly?"

"Oh," Talia said, faintly embarrassed. "Well, do you know who it was?"

"That son of your ex-mistress," he said tightly.

"What are you going to do?" Talia asked. "How am I going to get out of here?"

"Calm down a second," Briar said, going to her. He pulled her into his arms, unthinking. "Let me just hold you for a second."

"Let me go!" Talia insisted.

"Love, it's been three weeks since I held you," Briar said. "Give me a second before I can pretend that I'm not upset, all right?" He held her close, and she stood there, wishing she could still wrap her arms around him.

All too soon, he pulled away. "Okay. To business," he said. He set his mage kit on the bed and opened it. He pulled out two clothbound balls and set them to the side before closing his kit again.

"What are those?" Talia asked.

"A mixture of things," Briar replied. "For our friend, when he returns."

xXx

They didn't have long to wait. The door swung open, and three men, Harold in the lead, stumbled in. Briar threw the cloth balls at them, and sent his power with it so the ball exploded with green life. A vine covered in thorns wrapped around the men and they fell to the ground.

Harold, his one good eye darting all over the place, fell against the wall, a thorn pressing to his throat, ready to kill him if he so much as moved. "Never mess with mages," Briar said to him, smiling angrily as he tugged on Talia's hand.

She heard the screams of the men as the thorns grew, and the abrupt cutting off of sound as one man moved just a bit too much.

On their way to Cheeseman Street, they encountered a few Provost guards and sent them in the direction of the inn, where Harold and his friends were waiting.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review and tell me if you did, didn't, and why! :D Love to all!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Sandry, Daja and Tris met them at the house. "We're so sorry!" Sandry said, hugging Briar tightly.

"We didn't mean for that to happen," Tris assured Briar.

"I took care of it," Briar said, shrugging. "Next time, though? Plan a little better, okay?"

Talia turned on Briar. "What's this all about?"

"They're trying to get us to resolve our differences," he said. "But I haven't been in contact with them in my head since the day we introduced you to the duke."

Talia looked startled. "No? Why not?"

Briar let out a snort. "I wonder." He was looking at her pointedly.

She stared. "Me?!" Then she remembered the conversation she'd had with Tris the day before. "Oh."

"Exactly." Briar didn't turn away from her, and neither of them noticed that his sisters had herded them into a room and closed the door, locking it with a small click.

"What are we going to do?" Talia asked in a small voice. She hated that she felt guilty about what happened; Briar didn't flinch.

"The way I see it, we have two choices. One, we can start talking. Two, I can take you back to the Citadel and we can never speak again. It's your call, Talia."

She put her hands on her hips. "My call?! Why not yours?"

"I'm not the one who got us in this situation in the first place," he reminded her. "And that is what makes it your choice."

"What if I don't make one?" Talia asked stubbornly.

"Prepare for a long wait, then. They'll force us to stay in the same room, and they won't let you leave, or take you anywhere."

Talia sighed and faced the door, away from him. "What, now you can't bear to look at me either?" Briar asked. Talia shot him a glare over her shoulder and turned back to the door. "Hm, you really can't. Funny, isn't it? A few weeks ago you couldn't get enough."

With a light gasp of shock, Talia turned to face him fully. "Why are you being so cruel?" she asked.

"Me?" Briar shot back.

"Yes, you. You've been angry and cruel and hateful we got back here."

He leaned forward, toward her. Talia could see the anger in his gorgeous gray-green eyes. "I'm not the one who turned on someone they cared for when that someone only ever tried to make them happy, Talia!" He sighed loudly. "But then, maybe you never did care for me."

"Well, I didn't want you to give up your free will for me!" Talia exclaimed.

"Who said anything about giving anything up?!" Briar shouted, coming to tower over her.

Talia stepped back, not wanting to appear even smaller to him than she already was. "You did, the minute you told me your opinion didn't matter!"

"I was only trying to give you space to make your own decisions."

"By saying yours didn't matter? Briar, I never would have left if not for that."

He stood staring at her for a while. "That was the reason, then?"

"I thought…I thought you didn't want me with you anymore," she said quietly. "I still don't think you do, actually."

"If you think so little of me, you've made your choice." Briar sank back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't look at her, only stared at the door.

Slowly, Talia backed up against the wall and sank down, holding a hand to her throat. She couldn't believe she was doing this to him again. Pushing him away without a reason. He deserved a reason, even if she didn't want to give one. He deserved that much from her, at least.

She sat there, staring at him, for what felt like hours.

Finally, the door opened. "Well, this certainly isn't what we'd expected to find," Tris murmured, taking note of Talia on one side of the room and Briar on the other. "You've been in here long enough."

"We've already come to the conclusion that she left me because I told her that my opinions don't matter, I'm being hateful, cruel and…what was the other? Oh, angry. That, too. What else is my fault?" he asked Talia. "Probably everything, right?"

"Briar, just stop," Talia whispered.

Briar glared over at her, and then looked back up at Tris. "Do you have anything to say, Coppercurls?"

"It would be so easy to get out of here. Without force." She sighed. "All you have to do is talk. Talk honestly, I mean." She looked down at the floor and then sighed once more before retreating from the room.

The door closed heavily and loudly in the silence of the room.

_It'll be a long night,_ Briar thought to himself as he leaned back against the wall.

xXx

"They're just sitting in there," Tris said. "Not looking, not talking, except for when Briar was listing the things he'd done wrong."

"He was what?" Sandry asked.

Tris only shrugged. "I think he was trying to get on her nerves. All the things he thought she thought he'd done wrong."

Daja didn't say anything for a minute. "Did we do the right thing, putting them in together and hoping things came out for the best?"

"We didn't see any other way," Sandry said, smoothing a hand over Daja's arm.

"They'll come around," Tris said softly. "They care for each other too much not to fix this."

xXx

Hours passed, and Talia and Briar stayed quiet. They hardly even looked at each other, until Talia couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"I was afraid of falling in love with you," she said softly. Briar's head jerked up, and he looked at her.

"You what?"

"That's why I left. I mean, it was you telling me your opinion didn't matter, but I thought you didn't want to be with me. I thought you didn't-couldn't-feel the way I felt about you." The words came out in a rush. When she was done, Talia closed her mouth with a snap.

Briar continued to stare at her. "Talia, if only you knew how badly that hurts me," he whispered.

She bit her lip and tried not to cry. "I'm…no, I'm not sorry, actually. I've lived my whole life without anyone loving me. I can't remember my parents, not even the maid who took me. I didn't have many friends on the streets, as I was usually by myself. And when I became a slave, it was like I didn't exist, except as some…game piece."

She looked up at him. "And then I met you." A small smile lit up her delicate features. "And everything was different. And I got scared when we started fighting, and I couldn't think, and so I left." She shook her head. "It's not an excuse, just what happened."

"Why couldn't you just talk to me about it?" Briar asked.

"I was sure you'd think I was just a silly female who went off and fell in love with the one man she was warned away from." Talia swiped at the tears on her cheeks, but they wouldn't seem to go away.

Suddenly, Briar was there wiping away her tears. She looked up into his eyes, and saw he was smiling gently. "I love you, too." He touched his lips to hers.

"Briar, wait," Talia said a second later, and pulled back. "This doesn't solve anything."

"Except the most important part. The fact that we love each other kind of puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?" He smiled again.

"We still have to talk about everything else."

"What else is there to talk about?" he asked.

"I've been taking lessons from Rosethorn," Talia began.

"Unless you really want to continue with her, I want you to learn from me," Briar said with a grin. "And I want you to live here at Cheeseman Street with me and Daja and Tris. But you'll share my room, not just my bed. The minute we get out of here you'll clear all of your things out of your bedroom and you'll put them in mine. Is that understood?"

"But I live at Duke's Citadel," Talia said.

"Not anymore you don't," Briar replied cheerfully.

"But Sandry and…the duke…"

"Will understand. Please, Talia. I want you to stay with me when we get out of here."

"That's what you really want? You're not trying to make me happy?"

Briar raised an eyebrow slightly. "It's really what I want. You being happy about it is just a side benefit." He kissed her soundly. "I want you with me. Always."

Talia smiled and her tears fell onto her cheeks again. She buried her face in Briar's shoulder and he rubbed her back while she cried tears of joy.

The door opened, scraping against the floor. "I told you so," Tris said smugly when the three of them saw Talia and Briar embracing.

Sandry grinned. "They look happy."

"Not as happy as Rosethorn will be when she finds out," Daja muttered, and Tris and Sandry laughed. "Hey, you two!" she called out.

They turned to see the girls standing framed in the doorway. "See? This was what we were hoping for last night," Tris said. "Have you solved your problems?"

Talia nodded and smiled up at Briar. "I'm staying here."

"Good. You left a lot of stuff here," Tris said. She smiled widely.

"The house felt different without you," Daja said. "Even Kendre said she missed you."

"She doesn't miss much of anyone," Tris added. They started to head toward the door, and then looked back to where Talia and Briar were still standing. "Are you coming or staying?"

Briar laughed. "We're coming." They followed Briar's sisters out of the room and into the rest of the house.

Later that night, when Briar was holding Talia in his arms, he said, "Welcome home, Talia."

**A/N: This is the end! Only the epilogue left, and I'll let you wait a bit for it! :D Thanks to Kate of Carlay and KrisEleven for all the hard work they've put into this story! Love you guys! Please review and let me know what you thought! Love, Sarah**


	16. Chapter 16: Epilogue

**Epilogue: Six months later**

Tris was sitting at the window of her room on the top floor of the Cheeseman Street house, her face turned toward the wind.

The visions she was seeing were of everyday life. A small child playing in the dusty street, a woman hanging clothes on a line in her yard, someone handing over coins to pay for a loaf of bread. A man and wife kissing each other goodbye before they parted for the day.

A breeze from closer to home brought her the image of two figures in a garden. The man helped the woman up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her. They pulled apart after a second and laughed together.

Tris sighed and tried to move on to the next breeze. More meaningless activities. She stared out her window until her head ached and she was getting dizzy.

"Tris!" Talia called.

"What?" Tris called back.

"Come down here a minute."

"Why?"

_Coppercurls, come on,_ Briar called through their connection. _Just come downstairs. What's it going to hurt?_

Tris rolled her eyes and jammed her spectacles up her nose. She shoved away from the window and began the descent down the stairs. When she got down there, she followed the voices of Briar and Talia to the kitchen.

They were sitting at the table with someone Tris had never seen before. He was facing away from her, so all she could see of him was his messy dark brown hair. He turned when Tris entered the room, and flashed a grin in her direction. His dark green eyes were twinkling at her.

Tris raised an eyebrow. "I'm here. What was so important?"

"I just wanted you to meet a friend of mine," Talia said. "He's a smith mage. I've met him with Daja a few times."

"Well, nice to meet you, smith mage friend of Talia and Daja's," Tris said, nodding her head. She was about to turn around and go back up to her room, but something stopped her.

He continued to smile at her, even as he spoke. "It's Hunter." He held out his hand for Tris to shake.

As their palms touched, Tris felt a swirl of electricity and heat flare between them. She narrowed her eyes and took her hand from his, subtly wiping it on her skirts. She could still feel the fizz of the spark of fire on her hand, and wasn't sure if she liked it or not. "Tris."

xXx

"So what do you think of him?" Talia asked a while later. She twisted the gold ring on her left hand, a reminder of the vows she and Briar had made to each other a month before.

"Of who?"

"Hunter! Honestly, Tris, you'd think you were blind or something."

"What about him?" Tris asked, deliberately trying to get on Talia's nerves.

"What do you think of him?"

"What should I think of him?"

Talia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Tris. Give me something to work with."

"Why did you introduce us, Talia?" Tris asked impatiently.

"He was just here," Talia said, looking away from her friend.

"Uh huh. You didn't have to call me down to meet him, though."

Talia bit her lip and looked around the room as if it would give her the answer she was looking for. "You seem lonely sometimes, Tris," she began. Tris cut her off after this sentence was out in the open.

"Lonely? When I'm living in a house with three other mages and a glass dragon?" She snorted a laugh. "Lonely isn't even a word in my vocabulary."

"That would be nice, if it were true," Talia said quietly.

Tris glanced at her sharply. "Excuse me?"

Talia shrugged. "I don't know. You've seemed distant lately. Ever since Briar and I…" she trailed off and started twisting her ring again.

"So you're trying to find someone who will 'lift my spirits'?" Tris asked. Her anger was past now. She actually found this a little bit funny now, in a backwards sort of way.

"Not exactly. I mean, I just thought that you would enjoy meeting someone new for a change." Talia looked Tris straight in the eye, suddenly gaining her confidence back. "I think you should get to know him. Just a little. I think you'll like him."

"Like him as what?" Tris asked suspiciously.

"As a friend, for starters."

"Does Briar know about this?"

Talia bit her lip again. "Not really. I invited Hunter over to meet you and didn't say anything to Briar about it. Daja knows, but that's it."

Tris stood up and started pacing. "Thank you for wanting to see me happy," she finally said. "I just don't think that was the right way to do it."

"So you won't see him again?"

Tris looked at Talia, who had a hopeful look on her face. "Sure, because he would really want to see me again," Tris said with sarcasm.

"Actually, he made a point of asking if I would ask you if you wanted to see him again," Talia said, inspecting her fingernails. "But if you don't want to…"

Tris stared at her friend, and then sat down heavily on the bed. Talia hid a smile. "Shall I tell him you'll meet up with him, then?" she asked nonchalantly.

Tris blinked a few times, unable to speak. "Well?" Talia asked, and her voice seemed to snap Tris out of whatever spell she was under.

She hitched up a shoulder. "Do whatever you want," she said with a slight scowl. "You seem to do that already."

Talia held in her smile and replaced it with a frown so that Tris wouldn't be able to tell how excited she was. She didn't say anything else to Tris, just left the room and went downstairs.

xXx

"What do you think of him?" This time it was Tris's turn to ask the question, and Briar was the one she was asking. It was just after the midday meal that she cornered him in his workshop to ask.

"Hunter?" Briar asked. Tris nodded. "I don't know. I mean, he's all right. It's all right if Talia wants to be friends with him, but I doubt he and I will ever be mates, you know?" He glanced over at Tris before looking back down at the project he was finishing. "Why?"

Tris shrugged. "Talia just asked me, and I thought I'd ask you what you thought of him."

Briar turned all the way around and leaned his hips against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you like him, Coppercurls, be my guest," he told her with a shake of his head. "Just don't expect me to play nice."

xXx

Briar was still in his workshop when Talia came to find him to get him to come to supper. "What are you working on?" she asked, resting her chin on his shoulder as she came up behind him.

He turned to kiss her nose before answering. "I started this a while ago. Before our kidnapping." He gestured to the plant that was on the table. "It's taken me this long to get it exactly right."

He edged out from in front of Talia and let her look at what he'd made for her. Talia's hand went to her throat as she looked at the heart shaped cluster of pale pink roses. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed softly. She turned to look at him, and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

She came to him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much. It's the best present I could've gotten."

Briar grinned. "It was my pleasure, seeing as you're the best present I've ever gotten. One question, though."

Talia's head tilted to the side as she looked up at her husband. "What?"

"Why did you invite Hunter over today?"

"You've talked to Tris," Talia said, stepping away from him.

"I have. Did you invite him for her?"

Talia turned to smell the roses in her gift. "Well, I thought it would be nice. He's a very nice man, and I think they would get along well together. That's all."

"So you're going to force him on her as often as possible?"

"Who said anything about force?" Talia scoffed. "She practically fainted when I told her that he wanted to see her again. She's attracted to him."

"Attraction is one thing, sweetheart. Actually liking someone is different."

Talia turned her nose up. "Well, I still think it's worth a try. If she doesn't like him, or if he doesn't like her, then it's done. Tris would be the first to let us know if nothing happened. She'd lord it over me for weeks."

Briar smiled again. "At least there's some guaranteed entertainment in it."

Talia patted his chest lightly. "There you go. Look on the bright side."

xXx

The next morning, Tris opened her eyes. She stretched lightly and then got out of bed. She looked around for the book she was currently reading, thinking to read through breakfast, but couldn't find it in her room.

She thought back to what she'd done the day before, and then went up to the roof from her room. Something metal caught her eye. Drawing near to it, she saw that it was her book, but there was something sparkling on it in the morning light.

Laying on the book was a flower fashioned from what looked like copper. It had a small H etched into the stem that left no doubt as to who had made it. Tris studied the flower for a minute, trying to figure out what it was. Finally, she realized. She hadn't lived with Briar for ten years without picking up some flower names and their meanings. "Gloxinia," she recited to herself. "Love at first sight."

She twirled the flower in her fingers and smiled softly.

**A/N: I hope you liked this story. It was my first ever on fanfiction, and my first big rewrite! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. The sequel to this story, A Copper Flower is up on the site, so please go read and review! ****Please review! Love, Sarah**


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